No. 94—95. 



English Classic -Series 

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EARL OF CHATHAM 



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SECOND ESSAY 



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Lord Macau lay 



NEW YORK: 

Effingham Maynard & Co., 

publishers, 
771 Broadway a np 67 & 69 Ninth St. 



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AText-Book on English Literature, 

With copious extracts from the leading authors, English and Ameri- 
can. With full Instructions as to the Method in which these are 
to be studied. Adapted for use in Colleges, Iligh Schools, 
Academics, etc. By BitALNERD Kellogg, A.M., Professor of 
the English Language and Literature in the Brooklyn Collegiate 
and Polytechnic Institute, Author of a "Text-Book on Rhet- 
oric, )gg's "Graded 
Less in English." 
Ham 

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make. 

Short estimates of t' authors, made by the best English and 

Amcri. with us. 

The author hasendi 
book: one, that -would so educate the student that ho would kn< 
enjoy good literal ure. 

" T find tho bonk in Us treatment of English literature pnperior to any other I 

: similar 

opinion of th 

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Class 



Book 



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supplemexttng tite development of the science wttii 
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A Course of Practical Lessons Adapted for use in High Schools and 
Academies, and in the Lower Classes of Colleges. 

BY 

BRAINERD KELLOGG, A.M., 

Professor of the English Language and Literature in the BrooMyn 

Collegiate and Polytechnic Institute, and one of the authors of 

Peed & Kellogg 's " Graded Lessons in English" 

and "Higher Lessons in English." 



In preparing this work upon Rhetoric, the author's aim has been to 
write a practical text-book for High Schools, Academies, and the lower 
classes of Colleges, based upon the science rather than an exhaustive 
treatise up )R the science itself. 

This work has grown up out of the belief that th<3 rhetoric which 
th< pupil needs is not that which lodges finally in the memory, but that 
wii <ch lias worked its way down into his tongue and ringers, enabling 
him to speak and write the better for having studied it. The author 
believes that the aim of the study should be tp put the pupil in posses- 
sion of an art, and \.hat this can be done not by forcing the science into 
him through eye and ear, but by drawing it out of him, in products, 
througli tongue and pen. Hence all explanations of principles are fol- 
lowed by exhaustive practice in Composition- -to this everything is made 
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Prest. of State formal Softool, Oshkosh, 
Wis. 



276 pages, 12mo, attractively bound in cloth. 



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ENGLISH CLASSIC SERIES.— No. 94 95. 



William Pitt, Earl of Chatham, 



SECOND ESSAY. 

BY %/ 



Thomas Babington Macaulay. 



^itfj Kntrotructtou ants HrjiUmatorg "Notts 

BY 

Ordelia A. Lester, 

Instructor in English Literature, Adelpni Academy, Brooklyn. 




NEW YORK : 

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Spelling, Language, Grammar, Composition, Literature. 



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Reed's Introductory Language Work. 

Reed & Kellogcs Graded Lessons in English. 
Reed & Kellogcs Higher Lessons in English. 

Reed & Kellogg-s One-Book Course in English. 
Kellogg'S Text-Book on Rhetoric. 

Kellogcs Text-Book on English Literature. 



In the preparation of this series the authors have had one object 
clearly in view — to so develop the study of the English language as 
to present a complete, progressive course, from the Spelling-Book to 
the study of English Literature. The troublesome contradictions 
which arise in using books arranged by different authors on these 
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room, will be avoided by the use of the above "Complete Course." 

Teachers are earnestly invited to examine these books. 

EFFINGHAM MAYNARD & Co., Publishers, 

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Copyright, 1891, 
By EFFINGHAM MAYNARD & CO. 



LIFE OF MACATJLAY. 

TnOMAS Babington Macaulay, the great historian of England, waa 
born at Rothley, near Leicester, in 1800, and was named Thomas Bab- 
ington after his uncle. Macaulay's grandfather was a Scotch minister, 
and his father, Zaohary, after haviug spent some time in Jamaica, 
returned to England, and joined Wilberforce and Clarkson in their 
efforts to abolish slavery in the British possessions. Macaulay was 
educated at Bristol and at Cambridge, where hegained great, distinction, 
and twice won medals for his poems. He was also a member of the 
Union Debating Society, a famous club where young politicians tried 
their skill in the discussion of the affairs of State. He took his degree 
of M.A. in 1835, was called to the bar in 1836, and contributed exten- 
sively to Knight's Quarterly Magazine, in which his first literary efforts 
appeared, including among others the ballads of "The Spanish Ar- 
mada " and " The Battle of Ivry." In 1835 he contributed to the JHwi- 
burgh Review his celebrated article on Milton, and this was succeeded 
by numerous others on various themes, historical, political, and literary, 
which were afterward collected and published separately. 

Macaulay was a member of Parliament first for Colne, then for Leeds, 
and took part in the great discussions connected with the Reform Bill 
of 1833. In return for his services to his party, he was sent to India in 
1834 as a member of the Council, and while there wrote his famous 
essays on Lord Clive and Warren Hastings. In 1839 Macaulay returned 
to England, was elected member for Edinburgh, and, during the eight 
years of his connection with that city, held successively the offices of 
Secretary at "War and Paymaster-General of the Forces. In 1843 he gave 
to the world his spirited" Lays of Ancient Rome." In 1847 he displeased 
his Edinburgh supporters, and in a pet they rejected him ; but in 1852 
they re-elected him of their own accord, and in this way endeavored to 
atone for the past. He devoted the interval between these two dates to 
his History of England, the first two volumes of which were published 
in 1848, two others making their appearance in 1855. They form a mag- 
nificent fragment of historical writing, embracing a period of little more 
than twelve years, from the accession of James II. to the Peace of Rys- 
wick, in 1697, A fifth volume, compiled from the papers which he left 



4 LIFE OF MACAULAY. 

behind, and bringing the work down to the death of William III., 
was published posthumously in 1859. He retired from Parliament in 
1856, owing to failing health, and in the following year he was created 
n baron in consideration of his great literary merit. In 1859 he died 
suddenly of disease of the heart, and was buried in Westminster 
Abbey. 

Lord Macaulay excelled as a poet and essayist, but he is chiefly illus- 
trious as a historian. In the opening chapter of his History of England 
the author announces his intention to write a history from the accession 
of James II. down to a time within the memory of men still living. Its 
success was very great. History was no longer dry and uninviting, for 
-Macaulay had become a painter as well as a chronicler. The events of 
the past are depicted in such fresh and striking coloring that they have 
all the interest of absolute novelty. We have life-like portraits of the 
great men of the age, landscapes and street scenes, spirit-stirring de- 
scriptions of insurrections and trials and sieges, and graphic pictures 
of manners and customs. Macaulay had a very wonderful memory, of 
which he was proud, and he was able to collect and retain stores of in- 
formation from all manner of old books, papers, and parchments, ami 
to make use of them in the production of his history. He is not always 
impartial, but sufficiently so to be considered the best authority on that 
portion of history with which he deals. 

Macaulay's personal appearance was never better described than in 
two sentences of Praed's Introduction to Knight's Quarterly Magazine: 
"There comes up a short manly figure, marvelously upright, with a bad 
neckcloth, and one hand in his waistcoat pocket. Of regular beauty 
he had little to boast ; but in faces where there is an expression of great 
power, or great good humor, or both, you do not regret its absence." 
This picture, in which every touch is correct, tells us all that there is 
to be told. He had a massive head, and features of a powerful and 
rugged cast ; but60 constantly lighted up by every joyful and ennobling 
emotion, that it mattered little if, when absolutely quiescent, his face 
was rather homely than handsome. While conversing at table, no one 
thought him otherwise than good-looking; but when he rose be was 
seen to be short and stout in figure. He at all times sat and stood 
straight, full, and square. He dressed badly, but not cheaply. Bis 
clothes, though ill put on, were good, and his wardrobe was always 
enormously over-stocked. Macaulay was bored m the best of society, 
but took unceasing delight in children. He was the best of play- 
fellows unrivaled in the invention of games, and never weary of repeat- 
ing them, 



SKETCH OP PITT'S LIFE. 

William Pitt, Earl of Chatham, sometimes styled Pitt the 
Elder, one of the greatest English orators and statesmen of the 
18th century, was the son of a country gentleman, Robert Pitt, of 
Boconnoc, in Cornwall, and was born November 15, 1708. 
After an education at Eton and Oxford, he traveled on the con- 
tinent, and on his return obtained a cornetcy in the Blues. 

In 1735 he entered Parliament for Old Sarum, — that synonym 
for electoral corruption,— a borough then belonging to his family. 
He espoused the side of Frederick, Prince of Wales, then at 
deadly feud with the king, and offered a determined opposition 
to Walpole, who was at the head of affairs. He was deprived of 
his commission in consequence — an insult and injury which only 
increased the vehemence of his denunciations of the court and 
the government. His influence, both in and out of the House of 
Commons, increased rapidly ; and Walpole being driven from 
power, the king, notwithstanding his hatred of Pitt, found it 
necessary to allow of his admission to a subordinate place in 
the Broad Bottom Administration*; subsequently he was ap- 
pointed to the lucrative office of paymaster general. 

The Duchess of Marlborough, pleased with his patriotism 
and powers of oratory, left him £10,000 ; later, Sir William 
Pynsent, struck with similar admiration, left him his whole 
property. In 1755, when Henry Fox (afterwards Lord Holland) 
was made secretary of state, finding himself opposed to the for- 

*The Broad Bottom Administration was the name derisively applied to 
the ministry formed by Henry Pelham in 1744, because it professed to in- 
clude all parties of weight in the state in grand coalition, and comprised no 
less than nine dukes. The ministry was dissolved by the death of Pelham 
in 1754. 

5 



G sketch of Pitt's life. 

eigu policy of the new minister, Pitt resigned office as paymaster. 
Id the following year, when the king, unwillingly acceding to 
popular demands, had to dismiss Fox, Pitt became nominally 
Becretary of state, but was virtually premier. He immediately 
began to put into execution his own plans of carrying on the war 
with France. He raised the militia and strengthened the naval 
power ; but the king's old enmity and German predilections led 
him to oppose Pitt's policy, who thereupon resigned office in 
April, 1757, but was recalled in June in obedience to the loud 
demands of the people. 

Now firmly established in power, Pitt's war policy was char- 
acterized by unusual vigor and sagacity. Success returned to 
the British arms. French armies were beaten everywhere by 
Britain and her allies in India, in Africa, in Canada, on the 
Rhine; and British fleets drove the few French ships they did 
not capture or destroy from almost every sea. But the prime 
mover of all these brilliant victories found himself compelled to 
resign (1761) when, on the accession of George III., and owing 
to the influence of Lord Bute, it was attempted to introduce a 
vacillating policy into the government : the immediate cause of 
his resignation was the refusal of the majority of the cabinet to 
declare war with Spain, which Pitt, foreseeing as imminent, 
wished to commence before the Spaniards were thoroughly pre- 
pared. As some recompense for his important services, Pitt re- 
ceived a pension of £3000 a year, and his wife, sister of George 
Grenville, was created Baroness Chatham. 

Until 1766 Pitt remained out of office, not offering a factious 
opposition to government, but employing all his eloquence to 
defeat some of its most obnoxious measures. In that year he re- 
ceived the royal commands to form a ministry. Fie undertook 
the task, choosing for himself, to the astonishment of the public, 
and the sacrifice, to a considerable extent, of his popularity, 
the almost sinecure office of Privy Seal, with a seat in the House 

of Lords as Viscount Pitt and Earl of Chatham. Ill-health pre- 
vented Chatham from taking any active part in this ministry, 
of which he was nominally head, and which was weak and em- 
barrassed throughout, and he resigned in 1768 to hold office no 

more. 

He did not, however, cease to take an interest in public affairs. 



SKETCH OF PITT'S LIFE. 



He spoke strongly against the arbitrary and harsh policy of gov- 
ernment towards the American colonies, and warmly urged an 
amicable settlement of the differences. But when— America 
having entered into treaty with France— it was proposed by the 
Duke of Richmond to remove the ministers and make peace on 
any terms, Chatham, though much debilitated, came down to 
the House of Lords, and in a power- 
ful address protested against the im- 
plied prostration of Britain before 
the throne of the Bourbons, and 
declared war, with whatever issue, 
preferable to the proposed terms of 
peace. 

This address secured a majority 
against the motion, and the war was 
continued. But it was the orator's 
last effort ; for, exhausted by speak- 
ing, on rising again to reply to a 
query addressed to him by the Duke 
of Richmond, his physical powers 
suddenly failed, he fell back into the 
arms of his friends, and was carried 
from the House. He died May 11, 
1778. He was honored with a public 
funeral in Westminster Abbey, where 
a statue was also erected to his mem- 
ory at the public expense; and in addition, government voted 
£20,000 to pay his debts, and conferred a pension of £4000 a 
year on his descendants. 

Chatham's personal appearance was dignified and imposing, 
and added greatly to the attractions of his oratory, which was of 
the most powerful kind. His upright and irreproachable char- 
acter demanded the admiration of his enemies ; but his affected- 
ness and haughtiness not unfrequeutly disgusted his friends, and 
pride rather than principle seems to have actuated his course at 
some important conjunctures of his life. He had, however, an 
intense love of country, the grand object of his ambition being 
to make his native laud safe against all contingencies, and pow- 
erful among nations. 




WILLIAM PITT, EARL OF CHATHAM. 



More than ten years ago we commenced a sketch of the 
political life of the great Lord Chatham. We then stopped at 
the death of George the Second, with the intention of speedily 
resuming our task. Circumstances, which it would be tedious 

5 to explain long prevented us from carrying this intention into 
effect. Nor can we regret the delay. For the materials which 
were within our reach in 1834 were scanty and unsatisfactory, 
when compared with those which we at present possess. Even 
now, though we have had access to some valuable sources of 

10 information which have not yet been opened to the public, we 
cannot but feel that the history of the first ten years of the 
reign of George the Third is but imperfectly known to us. 
Nevertheless, we are inclined to think that we are in a condi- 
tion to lay before our readers a narrative neither uninstructive 

15 nor uninteresting. We therefore return with pleasure to our 
long interrupted labor. 

We left Pitt in the zenith of prosperity and glory, the idol 
of England, the terror of France, the admiration of the whole 
civilized world. The wind, from whatever quarter it blew, 

2. Political Iafe.— See Macaulay's first " Essay on William Pitt, Earl of 
Chatham." 

3. George tlie Second, died Oct. 25, 17G0. 

9. " Horace Walpole's Memoirs of George the Third's reign, which were 
transcribed fur Mackintosh; and the first Lord Holland's Diary, which Lady 
Holland permitted me to read. 1 ' See Macaulay's Letters. 

12. George the Third, 17(50-1820; grandson of George II. 

17. " Pitt's position the most enviable ever occupied By any public man in 
English history — adored by the people, admired by all Europe. He was the 
first Englishman of his time, and he had made England the first country in 
the world, . . . Whigs and Tories, Churchmen and Puritans, spoke with 
equal enthusiasm of the talents, virtues, and services of the minister." 
First essay. 

9 



10 WILLIAM TITT, EARL OP CIIATIIAM. 

» carried io England tidings of battles won, fortresses taken, 
provinces added to the empire. At home, factions had sunk 
into a lethargy, .such as ha<l never been known since the great 
religious schism of the sixteenth century had roused the pub- 
lic mind from repose. 

25 In order that the events which we have to relate may be 
clearly understood, it may be desirable that we should advert 
to the causes which had for a time suspended the animation 
of both the great English parties. 

If, rejecting all that is merely accidental, we look at the 

3° essential characteristics of the Whig and the Tory, we may 
consider each of them as the representative of a great prin- 
ciple, essential to the welfare of nations. One is, in an es- 
pecial manner, the guardian of liberty, and the other, of or- 
der. One is the moving power, and the other the steadying 

35 power of the state. One is the sail, without which society 
would make no progress ; the other the ballast, without which 
there would be small safety in a tempest. But, during the 
forty-six years which followed the accession of the House of 
Hanover, these distinctive peculiarities seemed to be effaced. 

4 o The Whig conceived that he could not better serve the cause 
of civil and religious freedom than by strenuously supporting 
the Protestant dynasty. The Tory conceived that he could not 
better prove his hatred of revolutions than by attacking a 



20. Battles won, etc.— Especially the taking of Quebec, and Clive's 
achievements in India. 

xM)-67. A good example of what has been styled " the mathematical sym- 
metry of structure which marks the typical Macaulay sentence.* 1 Not 
only the antithetical structure which so clearly presents the opposing par- 
ties, but the variety of presentation and the forcible use of specific illustra- 
tions are worth close observation. 

30. The nicknames Whig and Tory were given in 1G79 to the two parties 
into which England was divided on the Exclusion 1 .ill (a bill to bar the suc- 
cession of the Duke of York, afterward James II.). The Whigfl were pro- 
gressive, and zealous for Protestantism and parliamentary power over the 
crown, and were earnest promoters of the Exclusion Bill. The Tories were 
distrustful of popular power, upheld the doctrine of divine right of kings 
and bishops, and were the BUCCeWul opponents Of the Exclusion Bill. 

88. House of Hanover.— In accordance with the Act of Settlement (1701) 
George Lewis of Brunswick, Elector of Banover, became George I. in i?n, 
since which time the House of Hanover has occupied the English throne. 
Bee note, line 166. _._, _ _, . . 

42. Protestant dynasty: i.e.. House of Hanover.— By Dill of Rights, no 
Roman ( V.tholic may wear the crown of England. 



WILLIAM PITT, EARL OP CHATHAM. 11 

government to which a revolution had given birth. Both 
45 came by degrees to attach more importance to the menus than 
to the end. Both were thrown into unnatural situations; 
and both, like animals transported to an uncongenial climate, 
languished and degenerated. The Tory, removed from the 
sunshine of the court, was as a camel in the snows of Lap- 
se land. The Whig, basking in the rays of royal favor, was as a 
reindeer in the sands of Arabia. 

Dante tells us that he saw, in Malebolge, a strange en- 
counter between a human form and a serpent. The enemies, 
after cruel wounds inflicted, stood for a time glaring on each 
55 other. A great cloud surrounded them, and then a wonderful 
metamorphosis began. Each creature was transfigured into 
the likeness of its antagonist. The serpent's tail divided itself 
into two legs ; the man's legs intertwined themselves into a 
tail. The body of the serpent put forth arms ; the arms of 
6o the man shrank into his body. At length the serpent stood 
up a man, and spake ; the man sank down a serpent, and 
glided hissing away. Something like this was the trans- 
formation which, during the reign of George the First, befell 
the two English parties. Each gradually took the shape and 
6 5 color of its foe, till at length the Tory rose up erect the zealot 
of freedom, and the Whig crawled and licked the dust at the 
feet of power. 

It is true that, when these degenerate politicians discussed 
questions merely speculative, and, above all, when they dis- 
70 cussed questions relating to the conduct of their own grand 
fathers, they still seemed to differ as their grandfathers had 
differed. The Whig, who, during three Parliaments, had 
never given one vote against the court, and who was ready to 



44. Revolution — The Bill of Rights led to the revolution of 1688. By 
virtue of this bill and of the Act of Settlement, " an English monarch is now 
as much the creature of an Act of Parliament as the pettiest tax-gatherer 
in his realm." 

52. Dante, 1265-1321.— The great Italian poet. 

In Malebolge (evil budgets).— The eighth circle of Dante's " Inferno," 
" There is a place within the depths of hell 
Called Malebolge."— Dante, "Inferno," Canto xviii., 1300. 

63. Reign of George I., 1714-1727.— See preceding note on House of 
Hanover. 

72. The Whig.— Whig power was uppermost from 1714 to 1761, 



12 WILLIAM PITT, EARL OF CHATHAM. 

sell his soul for the Comptroller's staff or for the Great Ward" 

75 robe, still professed to draw bis political doctrines from Locke 
and Milton, still worshipped the memory of Pym and Hamp- 
den, and would still, on the thirtieth of January, take his 
glass, first to the man in the mask, and then to the man who 
would do it without a mask. The Tory, on the other hand, 

80 while he reviled the mild and temperate Walpole as a deadly 
enemy of liberty, could see nothing to reprobate in the iron 
tyranny of Strafford and Laud. But, whatever judgment the 
Whig or the Tory of that age might pronounce on transactions 
long past, there can be no doubt that, as respected the prac- 

85 tical questions then pending, the Tory was a reformer, and 
indeed an intemperate and indiscreet reformer, while the 
Whig was conservative even to bigotry. We have ourselves 
seen similar effects produced in a neighboring country by 
similar causes. Who would have believed, fifteen years ago, 

90 that M. Guizot and M. Villcmain would have to defend prop- 



74. Comptroller's staff, Great Wardrobe.— Offices at court. 

75. John Locke, 1633-1704. — A celebrated philosopher and scholar. His 
works on politics, religion, and metaphysics are characterized by the spirit 
of free inquiry. In his " Civil Government," he holds that the ruler is re- 
sponsible to the people for the trust reposed in him, and that legislative as- 
semblies are supreme as the voice of the people. 

76. John Milton, 1008-16T4— The greatest English poet since Shake- 
speare; also a writer of vigorous prose. Like Locke, he was an earnest and 
able defender of the Commonwealth, and was Latin secretary to the Coun- 
cil of State. See Maeaulav's " Essav on Milton." 

77. John Pym, "King Pym," 1584-1643. John Hampden, 1594-1643.— 
The most eminent leaders of the Parliamentary parly. Hampden pro- 
tested against forced loans in 16','T. and ship-money in 1635. See Green's 
" Short History" and Macaulay's " Essay on Hampden." 

77. Thirtieth of January. Charles I. was beheaded on January 30, 
1649, in front of the banqueting house at Whitehall. Two executioners 
were in waiting, masked according to custom. It is not known who acted 
as executioner at this time, and for some years it was the custom of the 
Whigs to drink to the memory of the "man in the mask" on the anniversary 
of this day, 

80. Sir Robert "Walpole, 1678-1746. — An eminent Whig statesman, and 
the famous prime minister of George! and George II. See Macaulay's 
first " Essay on the Earl of Chatham," his essays on "Horace Walpole'a 
Letters," and on Lord Mahon's " War of the Succession in Spain." 

R2 Strafford.- Thomas Wentwouth, Earl of Strafford—" grand apostate 
to the Commonwealth." 1596 1641. 

William Laud, Archbishop of Canterbury, 1578- 1645.— Leading ministers 
of Charles I., upholders Of despotism in State and ( 'hureh. 

90. Gui/.ot, 1787-1874.— A celebrated French historian and statesman. 
His most noted work, " History of Civilization. " 

90. Villemain, 1790-1870. —A French critic and Minister of State. 



WILLIAM PITT, KARL OF CHATHAM. 13 

erty and social order against the attacks of such enemies as 
M. Genoude and M. de la Roche Jaquelin? 

Thus the successors of the old Cavaliers had turned dema- 
gogues ; the successors of the old Roundheads had turned 

95 courtiers. Yet was it long before their mutual animosity 
began to abate ; for it is the nature of parties to retain their 
original enmities far more firmly than their original principles. 
During many years, a generation of Whigs, whom Sidney 
would have spurned as slaves, continue to wage deadly war 

ioo with a generation of Tories whom Jeffreys would have hanged 
for republicans. 

Through the whole reign of George the First, and through 
nearly half of the reign of George the Second, a Tory was re- 
garded as an enemy of the reigning house, and was excluded 

105 from all the favors of the crown. Though most of the country 
gentlemen were Tories, none but Whigs were created peers 
and baronets. Though most of the clergy were Tories, none 
but Whigs were appointed deans and bishops. In every 
county, opulent and well descended Tory squires complained 

no that their names were left out of the commission of the peace, 
while men of small estate and mean birth, who were for toler- 
ation and excise, septennial parliaments and standing armies, 
presided at quarter sessions, and became deputy lieutenants. 

92. Genoude, 1792-1849.— A French journalist. At first edited a royalist 
journal, but later acted with the revolutionary party. 

92. La Koehe Jaquelin, 180o-18(57. Leader of royalist cause in western 
France during reign of Louis Philippe. 

93. Cavaliers and Roundheads.— These names were used to designate 
the two parties in 1G41 at the time of the discussion of the Bishop's Ex- 
clusion Bill, Cavaliers being applied to the Royalists, and Roundheads to 
those who cried out against the bishops. 

98. Algernon Sidney, 1633-1683.— He was accused of complicity in the 
"Rye House Plot (a plan of the extreme Whigs to murder Charles II. and the 
Duke of York), and on insufficient evidence condemned and executed. 

100. Lord George Jeffreys, 1648-1689.— Chief Justice of the King's Bench 
in the reign of Charles II. and James II. He was specially commissioned to 
try persons taking part in Monmouth's rebellion. •'The Bloody Circuit." 

106. Peers.— The hereditary nobility of England. Until the thirteenth 
century, the ownership of land was a necessary condition of nobility: now 
peers are created by letters-patent; i e., open letters bearing the royal seal 

107. Baronets. — An hereditary knighthood, created by James I. in 1(511 

112. Septennial Parliaments.— In 1716 the Septennial Act was passed 
by which the duration of Parliament was prolonged to seven years. Be 
tween 1(594 and 1716 each Parliament lasted three years (Triennial Bill). l!e 
fore 1694 no length of term was specified, and under Charles a Parliament 
was maintained without fresh election for eighteen years. 

113. Gjuarter Sessions.— A general count of criminal jurisdiction, held 



14 WILLIAM PUT, EARL OF CHATHAM. 

By degrees some approaches were made towards a reconcil- 
es iation. While Walpole was at the head of affairs, enmity to 
his power induced a large and powerful body of Whigs, headed 
by the heir apparent of the throne, to make an alliance with 
the Tories, and a truce even with the Jacobites. After Sir 
Robert's fall, the ban which lay on the Tory party was taken 
120 off. The chief places in the administration continued to be 
filled by Whigs, and, indeed, could scarcely have been filled 
otherwise ; for the Tory nobility and gentry, though strong in 
numbers and in property, had among them scarcely a single 
man distinguished by talents, either for business or for debate. 
125 A few of them, however, were admitted to subordinate offices: 
and this indulgence produced a softening effect on the temper 
of the whole body. The first levee of George the Second after 
Walpole's resignation was a remarkable spectacle. Mingled 
with the constant supporters of the House of Brunswick, with 
130 the Russells, the Cavendishes, and the Pelhams, appeared a 
crowd of faces utterly unknown to the pages and gentlemen 
ushers, lords of rural manors, whose ale and foxhounds were 
renowned in the neighborhood of the Mendip hills, or round 
the Wrekin, but who had never crossed the threshold of the 
135 palace since the days when Oxford, with the white staff in 
his hand, stood behind Queen Anne. 

During the eighteen years which followed this day, both 

factions were gradually sinking deeper and deeper into repose. 

The apathy of the public mind is partly to be ascribed to the 

mo unjust violence with which the administration of Walpole had 

been assailed. In the body politic, as in the natural body, 

at least four times a year by the justices of the peace in counties, and by the 
recorders in boroughs. . ammrt 

117. Heir apparent. — Frederic, Prince of Wales. He died in 1.51, nine 
years before his fail ier. 

118. Jacobites (Lat, Jacobus, James).— Adherents of James II., or his 
descendants after bis abdication. 

129. House of Brunswick.— See not< 

130. Russels, Cavendishes, and the Pelhams.— Distinguished ^hig 
families. 

133. Mendip Bills.— In Somerset County. 

184. Wrekin.— A hill in Shropshire. , . 

185. Oxford, Robert Barley, Earl of Oxford, 1661-1784,— A distinguished 
Tory, and Prime Minister under Queen Anne. 

White staff.— Badge of authority, as Lord-treasurer, 



WILLIAM PITT, EARL OF CHATHAM. 15 

morbid languor generally succeeds morbid excitement. The 
people had been maddened by sophistry, by calumny, by 
rhetoric, by stimulants applied to the national pride. In the 

M5 fullness of bread, they had raved as if famine had been in the 
land. While enjoying such a measure of civil and religious 
freedom as, till then, no great society had ever known, they had 
cried out for a Timoleon or a Brutus to stab their oppressor to 
the heart. They were in this frame of mind when the change 

i 5 o of administration took place; and they soon found that there 
was to be no change whatever in the system of government. 
The natural consequences followed. To frantic zeal succeeded 
sullen indifference. The cant of patriotism had not merely 
ceased to charm the public ear, but had become as nauseous 

155 as the cant of Puritanism after the downfall of the Rump. 
The hot fit was over : the cold fit had begun : and it was long 
before seditious arts, or even real grievances, could bring back 
the fiery paroxysm which had run its course and reached its 
termination. 

160 Two attempts were made to disturb this tranquillity. The 
banished heir of the House of Stuart headed a rebellion ; the 
discontented heir of the House of Brunswick headed an oppo- 
sition. Both the rebellion and the opposition came to noth- 
ing. The battle of Culloden annihilated the Jacobite party. 

165 The death of Prince Frederic dissolved the faction which, 
under his guidance, had feebly striven to annoy his father's 
government. His chief followers hastened to make their 
peace with the ministry ; and the political torpor became com- 
plete. 

170 Five years after the death of Prince Frederic, the public 
mind was for a time violently excited. But this excitement 



148. Timoleon, 400 B.C.— A Greek statesman and general. 
155. The Rump — The remnant or "fag-end" of the Long Parliament 
(1640-1653). 

161. Banished heir.— Charles Edward Stuart, the Young Pretender, 
grandson of James II. 

162. Discontented heir.— Frederic, Prince of Wales, who died in 1751, 
nine years before his father. 

164. Culloden.— The Highlanders under the Young Pretender were ut- 
terly routed by the troops of George II. under the Duke of Cumberland. 
1746. 



16 WILLIAM PITT, EARL OF CHATHAM. 

had nothing to do with the old disputes between Whigs and 
Tories. England was al war with France. The war had 
been feebly conducted. Minorca had been torn from us. Our 

175 fleet had retired before the white flag of the House of Bourbon. 
A bitter sense of humiliation, new to the proudest and bravest 
of nations, superseded every other feeling. The cry of all the 
counties and great towns of the realm was for a government 
which would retrieve the honor of the English arms. The 

180 two most powerful men in the country were the Duke of New- 
castle and Pitt. Alternate victories and defeats had made 
them sensible that neither of them could stand alone. The 
interest of the state, and the interest of their own ambition, 
impelled them to coalesce. By their coalition was formed the 

185 ministry which was in power when George the Third ascended 
the throne. 

The more carefully the structure of this celebrated ministry 
is examined, the more shall we see reason to marvel at the 
skill or the luck which had combined in one harmonious whole 

190 such various and, as it seemed, incompatible elements of force. 
The influence which is derived from stainless integrity, the 
influence which is derived from the vilest arts of corruption, 
the strength of aristocratical connection, the strength of demo- 
cratical enthusiasm, — all these things were for the first time 

"95 found together. Newcastle brought to the coalition a vast 
mass of power, which had descended to him from Walpole and 
Pclham. The public offices, the church, the courts of law, the 
army, the navy, the diplomatic service, swarmed with his 
creatures. The boroughs, which long afterwards made up the 

174. Minorca.- On*' of the Belearic Islands. The capital. Port Mahon. 
called Hit- "• Key <>f the Mediterranean." 

175. House of Bourbon. — Royal family of Fiance, founded by Henry of 
Navarre (Henry IV. 1 in 1576. 

180. Duke of Newcastle. — Thomas Pel ham. a minister under Walpole. 

181. Alternate victories. — See Macau lay's flrsl "Essay on the Earl of 
( ihatham." 

197. Pelham, Henry, Newcastle's brother. See Macaulay's "Essay on 
Horace Walpole's Letters," and < hreen's " short History.'' chap x. 
199. The boroughs, a reference to those towns known as " rotten" or 

"pocket 11 borOUghH. A rotten borough w;is one which had few voters, vet 

sent a representative to Parliament; while in a " close" or " pocket" bor- 
ough the Domination was in the hands of a single person. Previous to the 
revolution of 1688 all parliamentary boroughs had been specified, and do 
provision made in case of Increase or decrease in population, Some lar^e 



WILLIAM PITT, EARL OP CHATHAM. 17 

200 memorable schedules A and B, were represented by his nomi- 
nees. The great Whig families, which, during several gener- 
ations, had been trained in the discipline of party warfare, 
and were accustomed to stand together in a firm phalanx, 
acknowledged him as their captain. Pitt, on the other hand, 

205 had what Newcastle wanted, an eloquence which stirred the 
passions and charmed the imagination, a high reputation for 
purity, and the confidence and ardent love of millions. 

The partition wiiich the two ministers made of the powers 
of government was singularly happy. Each occupied a prov- 

210 ince for which he was well qualified ; and neither had any 
inclination to intrude himself into the province of the other. 
Newcastle took the treasury, the civil and ecclesiastical patron- 
age, and the disposal of that part of the secret service-money 
which was then employed in bribing members of Parliament. 

215 Pitt was Secretary of State, with the direction of the war and 
of foreign affairs. Thus the filth of all the noisome and pesti- 
lential sewers of government was poured into one channel. 
Through the other passed only what was bright and stainless. 
Mean and selfish politicians, pining for commissionerships, 

220 gold sticks, and ribands, flocked to the great house at the 
corner of Lincoln's Inn Fields. There, at every levee, ap- 
peared eighteen or twenty pair of lawn sleeves ; for there was 
not, it was said, a single Prelate who had not owed either his 
first elevation or some subsequent translation to Newcastle. 

225 There appeared those members of the House of Commons in 
whose silent votes the main strength of the government lay. 

towns which had become important since lf>88. as Manchester and Sheffield, 
were without representation, while towns of no importance, as Sudbury 
1 and Old Sarum, still enjoyed the privilege. 

208-257. Another important passage snowing not only the political atmos- 
phere of bribery and corruption, but also the personality of the two min- 
isters, contrasting strongly the bland, promising duke, and the haughtily 
humble commoner. 

210. Well qualified — "Mr. Pitt does everything, and the Duke gives 
everything."— Horace WcUpole. 

212. Patronage.— See note on line 618. 

213. Secret service inoney.— Money used for secret pensions and direct 
bribery, no account for such expenditure being rendered. 

220. Gold sticks. — See dictionary. 
Ribands.— Insignia of rank. 

221. Lincoln's Inn Fields. — An open space west of Lincoln's Inn, one 
of the Inns of Court. Some of the nobility had dwellings near it. 

222. Lawn sleeves.— See dictionary. 



18 WILLIAM TITT, KARL OP CHATHAM. 

One wanted a place in the excise for his butler. Another 
came about a prebend for his son. A third whispered that 
he had always stood by his Grace and the Protestant succes- 

23osion; that his last election had been very expensive; that 
potwallopers had now no conscience ; that he had been forced 
to take up money on mortgage; and that he hardly knew 
where to turn for five hundred pounds. The Duke pressed all 
their hands, passed his arms round all their shoulders, patted 

2 3s all their backs, and sent away some with wages, and some 
with promises. From this traffic Pitt stood haughtily aloof. 
Not only was he himself incorruptible, but he shrank from 
the loathsome drudgery of corrupting others. He had not, 
however, been twenty years in Parliament, and ten in office, 

240 without discovering how the government was carried on. He 
was perfectly aware that bribery was practiced on a large 
scale by his colleagues. Hating the practice, yet despairing 
of putting it down, and doubting whether, in those times, 
any ministry could stand without it, he determined to be 

245 blind to it. He would see nothing, know nothing, believe 
nothing. People who came to talk to him about shares in 
lucrative contracts, or about the means of securing a Cornish 
corporation, were soon put out of countenance by his arro- 
gant humility. They did him too much honor. Such matters 

250 were beyond his capacity. It was true that his poor advice 
about expeditions and treaties was listened to with indulgence 
by a gracious sovereign. If the question were, who should 
command in North America, or who should be ambassador at 
Berlin, his colleagues would probably -condescend to take his 

255 opinion. But he had not the smallest influence with the 
Secretary of the Treasury, and could not venture to ask even 
for a tide-waiter's place. 

It may be doubted whether he did not owe as much of his 



227. Excise, Prebend, rot-wallopers.— See dictionary. 

247. Lucrative contracts.— Government contracts, aa supplying army 
and navy stores— another form of bribery. 

Cornish Corporation.— Securing thy purchase) the votes of those offi- 
cials of the corporation by whom the representative to Parliament was 
elected. 

857. Tide-waiter.— See dictionary. 



EARL OF CHATHAM. 10 

popularity to his ostentatious purity as to his eloquence, or to 

a6 ° his talent for the administration of war. It was every where 
said with delight and admiration that the great Commoner, 
without any advantages of birth or fortune, had, in spite of 
the dislike of the Court and of the aristocracy, made himself 
the first man in England, and made England the first country 

265 in the world ; that his name was mentioned with awe in every 
palace from Lisbon to Moscow ; that his trophies were in all 
the four quarters of the globe ; yet that he was still plain 
William Pitt, without title or riband, without pension or sine- 
cure place. Whenever he should retire after saving the state, 

270 he must sell his coach-horses and his silver candlesticks. 
Widely as the taint of corruption had spread, his hands were 
clean. They had never received, they had never given, the 
price of infamy. Thus the coalition gathered to itself sup- 
port from all the high and all the low parts of human nature, 

275 and was strong with the whole united strength of virtue and 
of Mammon. 

Pitt and Newcastle were co-ordinate chief ministers. The 
subordinate places had been filled on the principle of including 
in the government every party and shade of party, the avowed 

280 Jacobites alone excepted ; nay, every public man who, from 
his abilities or from his situation, seemed likely to be either 
useful in office or formidable in opposition. 

The Whigs, according to what was then considered as their 
prescriptive right, held by far the largest share of power. The 

2S5 main support of the administration was what may be called the 
great Whig connection, a connection which, during near half a 
century, had generally had the chief sway in the country, and 
which derived an immense authority from rank, wealth, 
borough, interest, and firm union. To this connection, of 

29 o which Newcastle was the head, belonged the houses of Caven- 
dish, Lennox, Fitzroy, Bentinck, Manners, Conway, Went- 
worth, and many others of high note. 



861. The Great Commoner. Significance of the title. When opposed 
by the nobles of the Cabinet. Pitt said, " It is the people who have sent me 
here. 1 ' 



20 WILLIAM PITT, EARL OP CHATHAM. 

There were two other powerful Whig connections, either of 
which might have been a nucleus for a strong opposition. 

295 But room had been found in the government for both. They 
were known as the Grenvilles and the Bedfords. 

The head of the Grenvilles was Richard Kail Temple. His 
talents for administration and debate were of no high order. 
But his great possessions, his turbulent and unscrupulous 

300 character, his restless activity, and his skill in the most ignoble 
tactics of faction, made him one of the most formidable ene- 
mies that a ministry could have. He was keeper of the privy 
seal. His brother George was treasurer of the navy. They 
were supposed to be on terms of close friendship with Pitt, 

305 who had married their sister, and was the most uxorious of 
husbands. 

The Bedfords, or, as they were called by their enemies, the 
Bloomsbury gang, professed to be led by John Duke of Bed- 
ford, but in truth led him wherever they chose, and very often 

310 led him where he never would have gone of his own accord. 
He had many good qualities of head and heart, and would 
have been certainly a respectable, and possibly a distinguished 
man, if he had been less under the influence of his friends, or 
more fortunate in choosing them. Some of them were indeed, 

315 to do them justice, men of parts. But here, we are afraid, 
eulogy must end. Sandwich and Rigby were able debaters, 
pleasant boon companions, dexterous intriguers, masters of 
all the arts of jobbing and electioneering, and, both in public 
and private life, shamelessly immoral. Weymouth had a 

320 natural eloquence, which sometimes astonished those who 
knew how little he owed to study. But he was indolent and 



302. Keeper of the privy seal.— The privy seal is affixed to charters, 
pardons, etc., before they come to the great seal, the "emblem of sov- 
ereignty." In some cases of minor importance the privy s<-al is sufficient. 

§08. George Grenville, 1712-1770.— The author of the Stamp Act See 
p. 33, line 755 

308. The Bloomsbury gang.— The Bedford House stood in Blooms- 
bury square. 

816, Sandwich, John Montagu, fourth earl of Sandwich (1718-1798).— 
Negotiated the peace of Ahc-la-Chappelle. lie was wounded in the "Gor- 
don Riots." 

Ki«l>y.— "The boatswain of the Bloomsbury crew," the most notable 
placeman of the age. 



WILLIAM PITT, KARL OF CHATHAM. 21 

dissolute, and had early impaired a fine estate with the dice 
box, and a fine constitution with the bottle. The wealth and 
power of the Duke, and the talents and audacity of some of 

325 his retainers, might have seriously annoyed the strongest 
ministry. But his assistance had been secured. He was Lord 
Lieutenant of Ireland; Rigby was his secretary; and the 
whole party dutifully supported the measures of the Govern- 
ment. 

330 Two men had, a short time before, been thought likely to 
contest with Pitt the lead of the House of Commons, William 
Murray and Henry Fox. But Murray had been removed to 
the Lords, and was Chief Justice of the King's Bench. Fox 
was indeed still in the Commons : but means had been found 

335 to secure, if not his strenuous support, at least his silent acqui- 
escence. He was a poor man ; he was a doting father. The 
office of Paymaster- General during an expensive war was, in 
that age, perhaps the most lucrative situation in the gift of 
the government. This office was bestowed on Fox. The 

340 prospect of making a noble fortune in a few years, and of 
providing amply for his darling boy Charles, was irresistibly 
tempting. To hold a subordinate place, however profitable, 
after having led the House of Commons, and having been in- 
trusted with the business of forming a ministry, was indeed a 

345 great descent. But a punctilious sense of personal dignity 
was no part of the character of Henry Fox. 

\Ve have not time to enumerate all the other men of weight 
who were, by some tie or other, attached to the government. 
We may mention Hardwicke, reputed the first lawyer of the 

350 age ; Legge, reputed the first financier of the age ; the acute 
and ready Oswald ; the bold and humorous Nugent ; Charles 
Townshend, the most brilliant and versatile of mankind ; 
Elliot, Barrington, North, Pratt. Indeed, as far as we recol- 

331. William Murray, 1704-1793.— Afterwards Lord Mansfield. Line 1023. 

332. Henry Fox, Lord Holland, -1774.— The father of Charles James 
Fox. See line 1,260; also Macaulay's first " Essay on the Earl of Chatham.'" 

341. Boy Charles, Charles James Fox, 1749-1806.— A celebrated English 
statesman and orator. " The most brilliant and successful debater the 
world ever saw." — Burke. 

349-359. Hardwieke, Legge, etc. — For further mention see Macaulay's 
first " Essay on Earl of Chatham." 



22 WIU.IAM PITT, KARL OF CHATHAM* 

lect, there were in the whole House of Commons only two men 

355 of distinguished abilities who were not connected with the 
government, and those two men stood so low in public estima- 
tion, thai the only service which they could have rendered to 
any government would have been to oppose it. We speak of 
Lord George Sackville and Bubb Dodington. 

3 6o Though most of the official men, and all the members of the 
cabinet, were reputed Whigs, the Tories were by no means 
excluded from employment. Pitt had gratified many of them 
with commands in the militia, which increased both their 
income and their importance in their own counties ; and they 

365 were therefore in better humor than at any time since the 
death of Anne. Some of the party still continued to grumble 
over their punch at the Cocoa Tree ; but in the House of 
Commons not a single one of the malcontents durst lift his 
eyes above the buckle of Pitt's shoe. 

370 Thus there was absolutely no opposition. Nay, there was 
no sign from which it could be guessed in what quarter oppo- 
sition was likely to arise. Several years passed during which 
Parliament seemed to have abdicated its chief functions. The 
Journals of the House of Commons, during four sessions, con- 

375 tain no trace of a division on a party question. The supplies, 
though beyond precedent great, were voted without discus- 
sion. The most animated debates of that period were on road 
bills and inelosure bills. 
The old King was content ; and it mattered little whether 

380 he were content or not. It would have been impossible for 
him to emancipate himself from a ministry so powerful, even 
if he had been inclined to do so. But he had no such in- 
clination. He had once, indeed, been strongly prejudiced 
against Pitt, and had repeatedly been ill \\>vd by Newcastle; 

385 but the vigor and success with which the war had been waged 
in Germany, and the smoothness with which all public busi- 



361. Cabinet, <>r Ministry — Bee Macaulay's " History of England," Vol. 
iv., chap. xx. 
863. Militia.- Pitt re-organized the militia in 1757. 

rhe Cocoa Tree, a Famons tavern in St. James Street, Piccadilly ; 

also known as the " Wit's Coffee HoO 



WILLIAM PITT, EARL OF CHATHAM. 23 

ness was carried on, had produced a favorable change in the 
royal mind. 

Such was the posture of affairs when, on the twenty-fifth of 

390 October, 17G0, George the Second suddenly died, and George 
the Third, then twenty-two years old, became King. The 
situation of George the Third differed widely from that of his 
grandfather and that of his great-grandfather. Many years 
had elapsed since a sovereign of England had been an object of 

395 affection to any part of his people. The first two Kings of the 
House of Hanover had neither those hereditary rights which 
have often supplied the defect of merit, nor those personal 
qualities which have often supplied the defect of title. A 
prince may be popular with little virtue or capacity, if he 

400 reigns by birthright derived from a long line of illustrious 
predecessors. An usurper may be popular, if his genius has 
saved or aggrandized the nation which he governs. Perhaps 
no rulers have in our time had a stronger hold on the affec- 
tion of subjects than the Emperor Francis, and his son-in-law 

405 the Emperor Napoleon. But imagine a ruler with no better 
title than Napoleon, and no better understanding than Francis. 
Richard Cromwell w r as such a ruler ; and, as soon as an arm 
was lifted up against him, he fell without a struggle, amidst 
universal derision. George the First and George the Second 

410 were in a situation which bore some resemblance to that of 
Kichard Cromwell. They were saved from the fate of Richard 
Cromwell by the strenuous and able exertions of the Whig 
party, and by the general conviction that the nation had no 
choice but between the House of Brunswick and popery. But 

415 by no class were the Guelphs regarded with that devoted 
affection, of which Charles the First, Charles the Second, and 
James the Second, in spite of the greatest faults, and in the 
midst of the greatest misfortunes, received innumerable 

404. Emperor Francis, Francis Joseph Karl (1768-1835).— Francis I. of 
Austria. 

404. Napoleon Bonaparte, Napoleon I., 1769-1821 —After divorcing 
Josephine, he married Maria Louise, daughter of Francis I. of Austria. 

407. Richard Cromwell.— Eldest son of Oliver Cromwell. He suc- 
ceeded his father .is Protector in 1658, but was soon forced to abdicate. 

415. Guelphs.— The House of Hanover. 



24 WILLIAM TITT, EARL OF CHATHAM. 

proofs. Those "Whigs who stood by the new dynasty so man- 

420 fully with purse and sword did bo on principles independent 
of, and indeed almost incompatible with, the sentiment of de- 
voted loyalty. The moderate Tories regarded the foreign 
dynasty as a great evil, which must be endured for fear of a 
greater evil. In the eyes of the high Tories, the Elector was 

4 2 5 the most hateful of robbers and tyrants. The crown of an- 
other was on his head ; the blood of the brave and loyal was 
on his hands. Thus, during many years, the Kings of Eng- 
land were objects of strong personal aversion to many of their 
subjects, and of strong personal attachment to none. They 

43° found, indeed, firm and cordial support against the pretender 
to their throne ; but this support was given, not at all for 
their sake, but for the sake of a religious and political system 
which would have been endangered by their fall. This sup- 
port, too, they were compelled to purchase by perpetually 

435 sacrificing their private inclinations to the party which had 
set them on the throne, and which maintained them there. 

At the close of the reign of George the Second, the feeling 
of aversion with which the House of Brunswick had long been 
regarded by half the nation had died away ; but no feeling of 

440 affection to that house had yet sprung up. There was little, 
indeed, in the old King's character to inspire esteem or tender- 
ness. He was not our countryman. He never set foot on our 
soil till he was more than thirty years old. His speech be- 
wrayed his foreign origin and breeding. His love for his 

445 native land, though the most amiable part of his character, 
was not likely to endear him to his British subjects. He was 
never so happy as when he could exchange St. James' for 
Hernhausen. Year after year, our fleets were employed t<» 
convoy him to the Continent, and the interests of his kingdom 

450 were as nothing to him w 7 hen compared with the interests of 

424. The Kleetor.— George I. See note 3a 

425. Crown of another.— See note 161. 

426. Blood of the brave.— See note 164. 
443. ISrwraved.— Matt, xxvi. 73. 

447. St. James.— The royal palai f the sovereigns of England. 

448. Hernhausen — Palace of Souse of Banover, near the city of Han- 
over, Germany. 



WILLIAM TITT, KAKL OF CHATHAM. 25 

his Electorate. As to the rest, lie had neither the qualities 
which make dullness respectable, nor the qualities which make 
libertinism attractive. He had been a bad son and a worse 
lather, an unfaithful husband and an ungraceful lover. Not 

455 one magnanimous or humane action is recorded of him ; but 
many instances of meanness, and of a harshness which, but 
for the strong constitutional restraints under winch he was 
placed, might have made the misery of his people. 

He died ; and at once a new world opened. The young 

4 6o King was a born Englishman. All his tastes and habits, good 
or bad, were English. No portion of his subjects had any- 
thing to reproach him with. Even the remaining adherents 
of the House of Stuart could scarcely impute to him the guilt 
of usurpation. lie was not responsible for the Revolution, for 

465 the Act of Settlement, for the suppression of the risings of 
1715 and of 1745. He was innocent of the blood of Derwent- 
water and Kilmarnock, of Balmerino and Cameron. Born 
fifty years after the old line had been expelled, fourth in 
descent and third in succession of the Hanoverian dynasty, he 

47 o might plead some show of hereditary right. His age, his 
appearance, and all that was known of his character, con- 
ciliated public favor, lie was in the bloom of youth ; his 
person and address were pleasing. Scandal imputed to him 
no vice ; and flattery might, without any glaring absurdity, 

475 ascribe to him many princely virtues. 

It is not strange, therefore, that the sentiment of loyalty, a 
sentiment which had lately seemed to be as much out of date 
as the belief in witches or the practice of pilgrimage, should, 



400. "Our chief troubles began when we got a king who gloried in the 
name of Briton, and who set about ruling the land of his birth. 1 '— Thack- 
eray, " Four Georges." 

404. Revolution. — See note 44. 

4(i5. Act of Settlement.— See note 38, 42. 

466. Risings of 1715.— See Green's "Short History," Chap, ix., Jacob- 
ite Revolt. 

Of 1745.— See note 164. 

466-7. Derwentwater, etc. — Followers of the Young Pretender, exe- 
cuted after the defeat at Culloden. 

468. Old line — Stuart line. 

476-505. Observe variety in length and construction of sentences, the rich- 
ness of allusion, and the comprehensive mention of benefits to result from 
the accession of George III. 



26 WILLIAM TITT, EARL OF CHATHAM. 

from the day of his accession, have begun to revive. The 

480 Tories in particular, who hud always been inclined to King- 
worship, and who had long felt with pain thu want of an idol 
before whom they could bow themselves down, were as joyful 
as the priests of Apis, when, after a long interval, they had 
found a new calf to adore. It was soon clear thai George the 

485 Third was regarded by a portion of the nation with a very dif- 
ferent feeling from that which his two predecessors had in- 
spired. They had been merely First Magistrates, Doges, 
Stadtholders ; he was emphatically a King, the anointed of 
heaven, the breath of his people's nostrils. The years of the 

490 widowhood and mourning of the Tory party were over. Dido 
had kept faith long enough to the cold ashes of a former lord ; 
she had at last found a comforter, and recognized the vestiges 
of the old flame. The golden days of Harley would return. 
The Somersets, the Lees, and the Wyndhams would again 

495 surround the throne. The latitudinarian Prelates, who had 
not been ashamed to correspond with Doddridge and to shake 
hands with Winston, would be succeeded by divines of the 
temper of South and Atterbury. The devotion which had 
been so signally shown to the House of Stuart, which had been 

soo proof against defeats, confiscations, and proscriptions, which 
perfidy, oppression, ingratitude, could not weary out, was now 
transferred entire to the House of Brunswick. If George the 
Third would but accept the homage of the Cavaliers and 
High Churchmen, he should be to them all that Charles thu 

505 First and Charles the Second had been. 

The Prince, whose accession was thus hailed by a great 
party long estranged from his house, had received from nature 
a strong will, a firmness of temper to which a harsher name 
might perhaps be given, and an understanding not, indeed, 

510 acute or enlarged, but such as qualified him to be a 

(82, Apis.— The sacred bull worshipped by the Egyptians 

487. Doge, Stadtholders.— See dictionary. What is the point of the 
reference ! 

490. Dido.— Queen of Carthage. See Virgil's "JSneid,* 1 Book IV., 90 84. 

498. Harley.— See note 185. 

490. Doddridge. J'hilip Doddridge, 170',M7.">1.— A distinguished difl 
big divine. 

\ tterbury, 1G0M732.— Bishop of Rochester, a Jacobite leader. 



WILLIAM PITT, KARL OF CHATHAM. 27 

man of business. But his character had nol yel fully developed 
itself. Ho had been broughl up in strict seclusion. The de- 
tractors of the Princess Dowager of Wales affirmed that 

she had kept her children from commerce with society, in 

515 order that she might hold an undivided empire over their 
minds. She gave a very different explanation of her conduct. 
She would gladly, she said, see her sous and daughters mix 
in the world, it" they could do so without risk to their morals. 
But the profligacy of the people of quality alarmed her. The 

520 young men were all rakes; the young women made love, 
instead of waiting till it was made to them. She could not 
bear to expose those whom she loved best to the contaminating 
influence of such society. The moral advantages of the system 
of education which formed the Duke of York, the Duke of 

525 Cumberland, and the Queen of Denmark, may perhaps be 
questioned. George the Third was indeed no libertine ; but 
he brought to the throne a mind only half opened, and was 
for some time entirely under the influence of his mother and 
of his Groom of the Stole, John Stuart, Earl of Bute. 

530 The Earl of Bute was scarcely known, even by name, to 
the country which he was soon to govern. He had indeed, a 
short time after he came of age, been chosen to fill a vacancy 
which, in the middle of a parliament, had taken place among 
the Scotch representative peers. He had disobliged the Whig 

535 ministers by giving some silent votes with the Tories, had 
consequently lost his seat at the next dissolution, and had 
never been re-elected. Near twenty years had elapsed since 
he had borne any part in politics. He had passed some of 
those years at his seat in one of the Hebrides, and from that 

540 retirement he had emerged as one of the household of Prince 
Frederic. Lord Bute, excluded from public life, had found 
out many ways of amusing his leisure. He was a tolerable 
actor in private theatricals, and was particularly successful 



529. Groom of the Stole.— Officer of the household. 

534. Scotch representative peers.— The Scotch Peers choose from 
their number sixteen representatives, whose term of office expires with the 
Parliament for which they are chosen. See line 704. 



28 WILLIAM riTT, EARL OF CHATHAM. 

in the part of Lothario. A handsome leg, to which both 

545 painters and satirists took care to give prominence, was among 
his chief qualifications for the stage. He devised quaint 
dresses for masquerades. Hedabbled in geometry, mechanics, 
and botany. Be paid some attention to antiquities and works 
of art, and was considered in his own circle as a judge of 

550 painting, architecture, and poetry. It is said that his spelling 
was incorrect. But though, in our time, incorrect spelling is 
justly considered as a proof of sordid ignorance, it would be 
unjust to apply the same rule to people who lived a century 
ago. The novel of Sir Charles Grandison was published about 

555 the time at which Lord Bute made his appearance at Leicester 
House. Our readers may perhaps remember the account which 
Charlotte Grandison gives of her two lovers. One of them, 
a fashionable baronet who talks French and Italian fluently, 
cannot write a line in his own language without some sin 

560 against orthography ; the other, who is represented as a most 
respectable specimen of the young aristocracy, and something 
of a virtuoso, is described as spelling pretty well for a lord. 
On the whole, the Earl of Bute might fairly be called a man 
of cultivated mind. He was also a man of undoubted honor. 

565 But his understanding was narrow, and his manners cold 
and haughty. His qualifications for the part of a statesman 
were best described by Frederic, who often indulged in the 
unprincely luxury of sneering at his dependents. "Bute, 1 ' 
said his Royal Highness, "you are the very man to be envoy 

570 at some small proud German court where there is nothing 
to do." 

Scandal represented the Groom of the Stole as the favored 
lover of the Princess Dowager. He was undoubtedly her con- 
fidential friend. The influence which the two united exert 

575 over the mind of the King was for a time unbounded. The 
Princess, a woman and a foreigner, was not likely to he a 

544. Lothario. Name of a character in Rowe's "The Fair Penitent'* 
—"Is this thai naughty, gallant, gay Lothario?" 

564. sir <haiies Grandison. — u History of Sir Charles Grandison," hy 
Samuel Richardson. Scott says of the character, "The faultless monster 
thai the world ne'er saw." 

555. Leicester House.— The residence of Frederick, Prince of Wales. 



WILLIAM TITT, EARL OP CHATHAM. 29 

judicious adviser .about affairs of state. The Earl could 
scarcely be said to have served even a novitiate in politics. 
His notions of government had been acquired in the society 

580 which had been in the habit of assembling round Frederic at 
Kew and Leicester House. That society consisted principally 
of Tories, who had been reconciled to the House of Hanover 
by the civility with which the Prince had treated them, and by 
the hope of obtaining high preferment when he should come 

58s to the throne. Their political creed was a peculiar modifica- 
tion of Toryism. It was the creed neither of the Tories of the 
seventeenth nor of the Tories of the nineteenth century. It 
was the creed, not of Filmer and Sacheverell, not of Perceval 
and Eldon, but of the sect of which Bolingbroke may be con- 

SQosidered as the chief doctor. This sect deserves commendation 
for having pointed out and justly reprobated some great abuses 
which sprang up during the long domination of the Whigs. 
But it is far easier to point out and reprobate abuses than to 
propose beneficial reforms : and the reforms which Boling- 

595 broke proposed would either have been utterly inefficient, or 
would have produced much more mischief than they would 
have removed. 

The Revolution had saved the nation from one class of 
evils, but had at the same time— such is the imperfection of 

600 all things human — engendered or aggravated another class 
of evils which required new remedies. Liberty and property 
were secure from the attacks of prerogative. Conscience was 
respected. No government ventured to infringe any of the 
rights solemnly recognized by the instrument which had called 

605 William and Mary to the throne. But it cannot be denied 
that, under the new system, the public interests and the public 



581. Kew.— The palace at Kew was once the favorite residence of George 
III. 

588. Sacheverell.— Dr. Sacheverell. a Tory churchman, was impeached 
by the Whig ministers in Queen Anne's reign for a sermon preached in 
favor of non-resistance. 

588. Perceval. -Spencer Perceval, a Prime Minister from 1809-1812. " An 
industrious mediocrity of the narrowest type." 

589. Bolingbroke, Henry St. John, 1678-1751.— "A man of splendid tal- 
ents.' 1 Prime Minister of yueen Anne. At the death of Anne, he tried to 
place James the Pretender on the throne. He was impeached and banished* 



30 WILLIAM PITT, EARL OF CHATHAM. 

morals were seriously endangered by corruption and faction. 
Daring the long struggle againsl the Stuarts, the chief object 
of the most enlightened statesmen have been to strengthen the 
610 House of Commons. The struggle was over ; the victory was 
won ; the House of Commons was supreme in the state ; and 
all the vices which had till then been Intent in the represen- 
tative system were rapidly developed by prosperity and power. 
Scarcely had the executive government become really respon- 
ds sible to the House of Commons, when it began to appear that 
the House of Commons was not really responsible to the 
nation. Many of the constituent bodies were under the abso- 
lute control of individuals; many were notoriously at the 
command of the highest bidder. The debates were not pub- 
6 2 olished. It was very seldom known out of doors how a gentle- 
man had voted. Thus, while the ministry was accountable to 
the Parliament, the majority of the Parliament was account- 
able to nobody. In such circumstances, nothing could be more 
natural than that the members should insist on being paid for 
625 their votes, should form themselves into combinations for the 
purpose of raising the price of their votes, and should at crit- 
ical conjunctures extort large wages by threatening a strike. 
Thus the Whig ministers of George the First and George the 
Second were compelled to reduce corruption to a system, and 
630 to practice it on a gigantic scale. 

If we are right as to the cause of these abuses, we can 
scarcely be wrong as to the remedy. The remedy was surely 
not to deprive the House of Commons of its weight in the 
state. Such a course would undoubtedly have put an end to 
63s parliamentary corruption and t<> parliamentary factions: for 
when votes cease to be of importance, they will cease to be 
bought ; and, when knaves can get nothing by combining, 
they will cease to combine. Bui to destroy corruption and 
faction by introducing despotism would have been to cure bad 

Gift. Control of individuals. S.v note 199. Xewcastlf.it is said, con- 
trolled a third of all tin- borough members of the House. 

619. Debates published.— Debates were nominally private till 1771. 
when Wilkes forced the Commons to allow the publication. Reporters' 
galleries were Dot erected in the House of Parliament till 1831. 



WILLIAM TITT, KARL OP CHATHAM. 31 

640 by worse. The proper remedy evidently was, to make the 
House of Commons responsible to the nation ; and this was to 
be effected in two ways: first, by giving publicity to parlia- 
mentary proceedings, and thus placing every -member on his 
trial before the tribunal of public opinion ; and secondly, by so 

64s reforming the constitution of the House that no man should 
be able to sit in it who had not been returned by a respectable 
and independent body of constituents. 

Bolingbroke and Bolingbroke's disciples recommended a 
very different mode of treating the diseases of the state. Their 

650 doctrine was that a vigorous use of the prerogative by a patriot 
King would at once break all factious combinations, and super- 
sede the pretended necessity of bribing members of Parlia- 
ment. The King had only to resolve that he would be master, 
that he would not be held in thralldom by any set of men, 

655 that he would take for ministers any persons in whom he had 
confidence, without distinction of party, and that he would 
restrain his servants from influencing by immoral means 
either the constituent bodies or the representative body. This 
childish scheme proved that those who proposed it knew 

660 nothing of the nature of the evil with which they pretended to 
deal. The real cause of the prevalence of corruption and 
faction was that a House of Commons, not accountable to the 
people, was more powerful than the King. Bolingbroke's 
remedy could be applied only by a King more powerful than 

665 the House of Commons. How was the patriot Prince to govern 
in defiance of the body without whose consent he could not 
equip a sloop, keep a battalion under .inns, send an embassy, 
or defray even the charges of his own household ? Was he to 
dissolve the Parliament ? And what was he likely to gain by 

645. -Reforming the Constitution.— Attempts at reform were made 
by Wilkes, Burdell, the Elder and Younger Pitt, but a complete Reform 
Bill was not passed till 1832. 

653. Be master.—" George, George, be king," were the words repeatedly- 
spoken by his mother, the Princess of Wales. See line 1444. 

658. Constituent bodies. See note 618. 

667. Equip a sloop, etc.— Since the Revolution of 1688, the crown has 
been dependent Cor its ordinary revenues on the House of Commons. At 
this time Parliament stopped granting revenue for life, and resolved that 
henceforth the vote of supplies, even for the household, should be an 
annual one. 



32 WILLIAM PITT, KARL V < II ATM AM. 

670 appealing to 8ndbury and Old Saram agatnsl the venality ot 
their representatives? Was lie to send out privy Beala I Waa 
he to levy ship-money? If so, this boasted reform must com- 
mence in all probability by civil war, and, if consummated, 
must be consummated by the establishment of absolute mon- 

6 75archy. Or was the patriot King to carry the House of Com- 
mons with him in his upright designs? By what means? 
Interdicting himself from the use of corrupt .influence, what 
motive was he to address to the Dodingtons and Winningtons ? 
Was cupidity, strengthened by habit, to be laid asleep by a 

680 few fine sentences about virtue and union ? 

Absurd as this theory was, it had many admirers, particu- 
larly among men of letters. It was now to be reduced to 
practice ; and the result was, as any man of sagacity must 
have foreseen, the most piteous and ridiculous of failures. 

68 s On the very day of the young King's accession appeared 
some signs which indicated the approach of a great change. 
The speech which he made to his council was not submitted 
to the cabinet. It was drawn up by Bute, and contained some 
expressions which might be construed into reflections on the 

690 conduct of affairs during the late reign. Pitt remonstrated, 
and begged that these expressions might be softened down in 
the printed copy ; but it was not till after some hours of alter- 
cation that Bute yielded; and, even after Bute had yielded, 
the King affected to hold out till the following afternoon. On 

695 the same day on which this singular contest took place, Bute 
was not only sworn of the privy council, but introduced into 
the cabinet. 

Soon after this, Lord Holdernesse, one of the Secretaries of 



G70. Sudbury and Old Sarum. — See note 190. 

671. Privy seals, ship-money. Methods to which Charles I. resorted 
for raising money : namely, granting monopolies, forced loans, ami illegal 
taxation. See Green's "Short History." Chap. viii. 

678. Dodingtons and WJnningtons — Men noted for their venality. 
See p. 19. lines 853-364. 

88f. His Council.- The Privy Council is the only body that can advise 
the sovereign ; in reality it simply ratifies, In a formal way, the doings of 
the cabinet. 

696. Introduced Into the cabinet.- Officers Of the royal household 
had usual!; been privy councillors, but not members of the cabinet. 



WILLIAM PITT, EARL OP CHATHAM. 33 

State, in pursuance of a plan concerted with the court, re- 

700 signed the seals. Bute was instantly appointed to the vacant 
place. A general election speedily followed, and the new 
Secretary entered parliament in the only way in which he 
then could enter it, as one of the sixteen representative peers 
of Scotland.* 

705 Had the ministers been firmly united it can scarcely be 
doubted that they would have been able to withstand the 
court. The parliamentary influence of the Whig aristocracy, 
combined with the genius, the virtue, and the fame of Pitt, 
would have been irresistible. But there had been in the 

710 cabinet of George the Second latent jealousies and enmities, 
which now began to show themselves. Pitt had been estranged 
from his old ally Legge, the Chancellor of the Exchequer. 
Some of the ministers were envious of Pitt's popularity. Others 
were, not altogether without cause, disgusted by his imperious 

7*5 and haughty demeanor. Others, again, were honestly opposed 
to some parts of his policy. They admitted that he had found 
the country in the depths of humiliation, and had raised it to 
the height of glory : they admitted that he had conducted the 
war with energy, ability, and splendid success ; but they began 

720 to hint that the drain on the resources of the state was unex- 
ampled, and that the public debt was increasing with a speed 
at which Montague or Godolphin would have stood aghast. 
Some of the acquisitions made by our fleets and armies were, 

699. Resigned the seals.— He was bribed with a pension. 

712. Legge.- See note, line 350. 

Chancellor of Exchequer.— The member of the cabinet who is the 
head of the financial system. Formerly, and sometimes now, also First 
Lord of the Treasury, who is usually Premier. He is always a member of 
the Commons, as it is he who presents the " budget " or "estimated ex- 
penses." which must come from the Lower House. See line 212. 

722. Montague. Charles Montague, 1661-1715.— Chancellor of the Ex- 
chequer under William HI. One of the ablest financiers of England. He 
established the Bank of England in 1694, the plan of which had been pro- 
posed by William Patterson, a Scotchman, three years before. He was the 
originator of the great Re-coinage Act (1695), of exchequer bills (1696), and 
of the tax on windows. 

722. Godolphin. Lord Godolphin. 1610-1712.— Another able financier. 
Tory minister of William III., and of Anne. 



* In the reign of Anne, the House of Lords had resolved that under 
the 23d article of Union, no Scotch peer could be created a peer of Great 
Britain. This resolution was not annulled till the year 1782. 



34 WTLLTAM PITT, EARL OF CHATHAM. 

it was acknowledged, profitable as well as honorable; but, 

7 2 5 now that George the Second was dead, a courtier might venture 
to ask why England was to become a party in a dispute between 
two German powers. Wlial was it to her whether the House 
of Hapsburg or the House of Brandenburg ruled in Silesia? 
Why were the best English regiments fighting on the -Main ? 

730 Why were the Prussian battalions paid with English gold? 
The great minister seemed to think it beneath him to calculate 
the price of victory. As long as the Tower guns were fired, 
as the streets were illuminated, as French banners were carried 
in triumph through London, it was t<> him matter of indiffer- 

735 ence to what extent the public burdens were augmented. Nay, 
he seemed to glory in the magnitude of those sacrifices which 
the people, fascinated by his eloquence and success, had too 
readily made, and would long and bitterly regret. There was 
no check on waste or embezzlement. Our commissaries re- 

740 turned from the camp of Prince Ferdinand to buy boroughs, 
to rear palaces, to rival the magnificence of the old aristocracy 
of the realm. Already had we borrowed, in four years of war, 
more than the most skillful and economical government would 
pay in forty years of peace. But the prospect of peace was 

745 as remote as ever. It could not be doubted that France, 
smarting and prostrate, would consent to fair terms of accom- 
modation ; but this was not what Pitt wanted. War had made 
him powerful and popular ; with war, all that was brightest in 
his life was associated : for war his talents were peculiarly 

75 o fitted. He had at length begun to love war for its own sake, 
and was more disposed to quarrel with neutrals than to make 
peace with enemies. 

72G. Party in a dispute.— Pitt's policy was to conquer America in C.er- 
many. This was the " Seven Years 1 War in Europe." See Green's "Short 
Jlist.'.rv," Chap. X. 

787. Bouse of Hapslmrg.— The Royal Family of Austria, so called from 
the Castle of Hapsburg in Switzerland, the first home of the family. 

728. House of Brandenburg. -The great House of Hohenzollern. The 
Elector of Brandenburg was the first Kin<; of Prussia. Frederick the Great 
claimed Silesia, which Charles VI. had left to his daughter, Maria Theresa. 
See note 887. 

788. Tower guns fired.— The prims of the Tower of London were fired 
when news of an English victory was received. 

740. Prince Ferdinand of Brunswick.— He was at the head of the 
English and Hanoverian troops in Germany. 



WILLIAM PITT, KARL OF CHATHAM. 35 

Such were the views of the Duke of Bedford and of the Earl 

of Hardwicke ; but no member of the government held these 

7S5 opinions so strongly as George Grenville, the treasurer of the 

navy. George Grenville was brother-in-law of Pitt, and had 
always been reckoned one of Pitt's personal and political 
friends. But it is difficult to conceive two men of talents and 
integrity more utterly unlike each other. Pitt, as his sister 

760 often said, knew nothing accurately except Spenser's Faerie 
Queene. He had never applied himself steadily to any branch 
of knowledge. lie was a wretched financier. He never be- 
came familiar even with the rules of that House of which he 
was the brightest ornament. He had never studied public law 

7 6 5 as a system ; and was, indeed, so ignorant of the whole subject, 
that George the Second, on one occasion, complained bitterly 
that a man who had never read Vattel should presume to 
undertake the direction of foreign affairs. But these defects 
were more than redeemed by high and rare gifts, by a strange 

77 o power of inspiring great masses of men with confidence and 
affection, by an eloquence which not only delighted the ear, 
but stirred the blood, and brought tears into the eyes, by 
originality in devising plans, by vigor in executing them. 
Grenville, on the other hand, was by nature and habit a man 

775 of details. He had been bred a lawyer ; and he had brought 
the industry and acuteness of the Temple into official and par- 
liamentary life. He was supposed to be intimately acquainted 
with the whole fiscal system of the country. He had paid 
especial attention to the law of Parliament, and was so learned 

7 8o in all things relating to the privileges and orders of the House 
of Commons that those who loved him least pronounced him 

753. Duke of Bedford.— SeePline 308. Earl of Hardwicke. See line 349. 

758-816. Another forcible contrast. Macau lay makes effective use of suc- 
cession of phrases as in lines 7(59-773. The passage will repay stud}-, with 
special reference to aptness of descriptive words, and arrangement of sen- 
tences from the first mention of unlikeness to the close of Burke's com- 
parison. 

760.— Spenser.— Edmund Spenser the "poet's poet," 1553(?)-1559. "The 
Faerie Queene*' is his greatest poem. 

767. Vattel, 1714-1767. — A celebrated Swiss jurist, formerly an authority 
in international law, but now considered more theoretical than practical. 
His principal work, " Law of Nations.*' 

777. The Temple.— -Comprising the Middle and Inner Temples, two of 
the four Inns of Court of London which authorize barristers to practice. 



36 WILLIAM PITT, EARL OF CHATHAM. 

the only person competent to succeed Onslow in the Chair. 
His speeches were generally instructive, and sometimes, from 

the gravity and earnestness with which he spoke, even impres- 

78s sivc, but never brilliant, and generally tedious, [ndeed, even 
when he was at the head of affairs, he sometimes found it 
difficult to obtain the ear of the House. In disposition as well 
as in intellect, he differed widely from his brother-in-law. 
Pitt was utterly regardless of money. He would scarcely 

790 stretch out his hand to take it; and, when it came, he threw 
it away with childish profusion. Grenville, though strictly 
upright, was grasping and parsimonious. Pitt was a man of 
excitable nerves, sanguine in hope, easily elated by success and 
popularity, keenly sensible of injury, but prompt to forgive; 

795 Grenville's character was stern, melancholy, and pertinacious. 
Nothing was more remarkable in him than his inclination 
always to look on the dark side of things. He was the raven 
of the House of Commons, always croaking defeat in the midst 
of triumphs, and bankruptcy with an overflowing exchequer. 

800 Burke, with general applause, compared him, in a time of 
quiet and plenty, to the evil spirit whom Ovid described look- 
ing down on the stately temples and wealthy haven of Athens, 
and scarce able to refrain from weeping because she could find 
nothing at which to weep. Such a man was not likely to be 

8o 5 popular. But to unpopularity Grenville opposed a dogged 
determination, which sometimes forced even those who hated 
him to respect him. 

It was natural that Pitt and Grenville, being such as they 
were, should take very different views of the situation of 

8i affairs. Pitt could see nothing but the trophies- Grenville 
could see nothing but the bill. Pitt boasted that England 



782. Onslow. Arthur Onslow. 1000-1708.— Speaker of the House of Com- 
mons for thirty-three years. " He filled that chair with higher merit prob- 
ably than any one either before or after him." 

800. JJurke. 1780-1707.— Edmund Burke, the famous Irish orator and 
statesman. "The keenest political thinker of the age." He was a n 
ui/.ed friend to the " United Colonies of America " during the Revolutionary 
War. 

801. Ovid, 43 B.C., 18 A. D.— Author of the famous Metamorphoses. For 
reference, see Metamorphoses II., 701-700. 



WILLIAM PITT, KAKL OF CHATHAM. 37 

was victorious at once in America, in India, and in Germany, 
the umpire of the Continent, the mistress of the sea. (inn 
ville cast up the subsidies, sighed over the army extraordi- 

S15 naries, and groaned in spirit to think that the nation had bor- 
rowed eight millions in one year. 

With a ministry thus divided it was not difficult for Bute 
to deal. Logge was the first who fell. He had given offence 
to the young King in the laic reign, by refusing to support a 

820 creature of Bute at a Hampshire election. He was now not 
only turned out, but in the closet, when he delivered up his 
seal of office, was treated with gross incivility. 

Pitt, who did not love Legge, saw this event with indiffer- 
ence. But the danger was now fast approaching himself. 

825 Charles the Third of Spain had early conceived a deadly 
hatred of England. Twenty years before, when he was King 
of the Two Sicilies, he had been eager to join the coalition 
against Maria Theresa. But an English fleet had suddenly 
appeared in the Bay of Naples. An English captain had 

830 landed, had proceeded to the palace, had laid a watch on the 
table, and had told his majesty that, within an hour, a treaty 
of neutrality must be signed, or a bombardment would com- 
mence. The treaty was signed ; the squadron sailed out of 
the bay twenty-four hours after it had sailed in ; and from 

835 that day the ruling passion of the humbled Prince was aver- 
sion to the English name. He was at length in a situation in 
which he might hope to gratify that passion. lie had re- 
cently become King of Spain and the Indies. He saw, with 
envy and apprehension, the triumphs of our navy, and the 

840 rapid extension of our colonial Empire. He was a Bourbon, 

812. Victorious.— Iii America, by the capture of Quebec and tin- con- 
quest of Canada, in India by Lord Clive's campaigns, and in Germany by 
sharing in the victories of Frederick the Great. 

825. Charles the Third.— In 1736 Don Carlos was made King of Naples 
and Sicily ; was crowned King of Spain in 1759. 

827. Coalition against Maria Theresa.— Maria Theresa, daughter of 
Charles VI., of the House of Austria, Emperor of Germany. On the death 
of her father in 1710, she succeeded to the Austrian dominion. Frederick 
the Great now claimed Silesia, and Charles Albert, Elector of Havana, set up 
a claim to the Austrian States. France. Spain and Prussia fought against 
the Queen, while England, in order to diminish the power of her great. 
enemy, France, supported the princess. See Macaulay's Essay on Frederick 
the Great. 



38 WILLIAM PITT, KARL OF CHATHAM. 

and sympathized with the distress of the house from which 
he sprang. Be was a Spaniard ; and no Spaniard could bear 
to see Gibraltar and Minorca in the possession of a Foreign 
power. Impelled by such feelings, Charles concluded a secret 

B45treaty with France. By this treaty, known as the Family 
Compact, the two powers bound themselves, not in express 
words, but by the clearest implication, to make war on Eng- 
land in common. Spain postponed the declaration of hos- 
tilities only till her fleet, laden with the treasures of America, 

850 should have arrived. 

The existence of the treaty could not be kept a secret from 
Pitt. He acted as a man of his capacity and energy might 
be expected to act. He at once proposed to declare war 
against Spain, and to intercept the American fleet He had 

855 determined, it is said, to attack without delay both Havanna 
and the Philippines. 

His wise and resolute counsel was rejected. Bute was fore- 
most in opposing it, and was supported by almost the whole 
cabinet. Some of the ministers doubted, or affected to doubt, 

860 the correctness of Pitt's intelligence; some shrank from the 
responsibility of advising a course so bold and decided as that 
which he proposed; some were weary of his ascendency, and 
were glad to be rid of him on any pretext. One only of his 
colleagues agreed with him, his brother-in-law. Karl Temple. 

865 Pitt and Temple resigned their offices. To Pitt the young 
King behaved at parting in the most gracious manner. Pitt, 
who, proud and fiery every where else, was always meek and 
humble in the closet, was moved even to tears. The King and 
the favorite urged him to accept BOme substantial mark of 

870 royal gratitude. Would he like to be appointed governor of 
Canada ! A salary of five thousand pounds a year should be 
annexed to the office. Residence would not be required. It 



B45 Family compact.— Both kings were of the Bourbon family. 

849. Fleet with treasures of America — Ships bringing gold and 
Bilver from Spanish colonies in Am. Mica. 

865. Pitt resigned Oct. 5, 1761.— "Pitt disgraced!" wrote a French 
philosopher, " il is worth tWO victories to us! " 

S( ;.-, 9i4._ a realistic picture of the Interview, and of the occurrences on 
Lord Mayor's Day. Effective use of interrogation and of the short sentence. 



WILLIAM PITT, EARL OK CHATHAM. 39 

was tnio that the governor of Canada, as the law then stood, 
could not be a member of the House of Commons. But a bill 

875 should be brought in, authorizing Pitt to hold his govern- 
ment together with a scat in Parliament, and iu thepreamable 
should be set forth his claims to the gratitude of his country. 
Pitt answered, with all delicacy, that his anxieties were rather 
for his wife and family than for himself, and that nothing 

S80 would be so acceptable to him as a mark of royal goodness 
which might be beneficial to those who were dearest to him. 
The hint was taken. The same Gazette which announced the 
retirement of the Secretary of State announced also that, in 
consideration of his great public services, his wife had been 

885 created a peeress in her own right, and that a pension of three 
thousand pounds a year, for three lives, had been bestowed 
on himself. It was doubtless thought that the rewards and 
honors conferred on the great minister would have a con- 
ciliatory effect on the public mind. Perhaps, too, it was 

890 thought that his popularity, which had partly arisen from the 
contempt which he had always shown for money, would be 
damaged by a pension ; and, indeed, a crowd of libels in- 
stantly appeared, in which he was accused of having sold his 
country. Many of his true friends thought that he would 

895 have best consulted the dignity of his character by refusing 
to accept any pecuniary reward from the court. Nevertheless, 
the general opinion of his talents, virtues, and services, re- 
mained unaltered. Addresses were presented to him from 
several large towns. London showed its admiration and 

900 affection in a still more marked manner. Soon after his resig- 
nation came the Lord Mayor's day. The King and the royal 
family dined at Guildhall. Pitt was one of the guests. The 
young Sovereign, seated by his bride in his state coach, re- 
ceived a remarkable lesson. He was scarcely noticed. All 

882. Gazette.— Official court newspaper, through which all official com- 
munications were made 

901. Liord Mayor's Day.— The ninth of November, the day on which 
the Lord Mayor of London is sworn Into office. The day is duly observed 
with processions, followed by a banquet at Guild Hall, to which royalty and 
ministers are invited. 

902. Guild Hall.— The " city hall" of London. 



40 WILLIAM TITT, EARL OF CHATHAM. 

90s eyes were fixed on the fallen minister; all acclamations 
directed to him. The streets, the balconies, the chimney tops, 
burst into a roar of delight as his chariot passed by. The 
ladies waved their handkerchiefs from the windows. The 
common people clung to the wheels, shook hands with the 

910 footmen, and even kissed the horses. Cries of " No Bute ! " 
"No Newcastle salmon !" were mingled with the shouts of 
"Pitt for ever ! " When Pitt entered Guildhall, he was 
welcomed by loud huzzas and clapping of hands, in which the 
very magistrates of the city joined. Lord Bute, in the mean 

915 time, was hooted and pelted through Cheapside, and would, 
it was thought, have been in some danger, if he had not 
taken the precaution of surrounding his carriage with a strong 
body guard of boxes. Many persons blamed the conduct of 
Pitt on this occasion as disrespectful to the King. Indeed, 

920 Pitt himself afterwards owned that he had done wrong. He 
was led into this error, as he was afterwards led into more 
serious errors, by the influence of his turbulent and mis- 
chievous brother-in-law, Temple. 

The events which immediately followed Pitt's retirement 

925 raised his fame higher than ever. War with Spain proved to 
be, as he had predicted, inevitable. News came from the West 
Indies that Martinique had been taken by an expedition which 
he had sent forth. Havanna fell ; and it was known that he 
had planned an attack on Havanna. Manilla capitulated; 

930 and it was believed that he had meditated a blow against 
Manilla. The American fleet, which he had proposed to inter- 
cept, had unloaded an immense cargo of bullion in the haven 
of Cadiz, before Bute could be convinced that the Court of 
Madrid really entertained hostile intentions. 

935 The session of Parliament which followed Pitt's retirement 
passed over without any violent storm. Lord Bute took on 
himself the most prominent part in the House of Lords. He 



911. No Newcastle salmon.- See Macaulay's first "Essay on Lord 

Chatham. " _ #-i 

015. Cheapside, originally Cheap or West Cheap.— A market-place. The 
Great street of ancient London. 

929. Manilla.— The, capital of the Thillipine Islands. 



WILLIAM PITT, EARL OF CHATHAM. 41 

had become Secretary of State, and indeed prime minister, 
without having once opened his lips in public except as an 

940 actor. There was, therefore, no small curiosity to know how 
be would acquit himself. Members of the House of Commons 
crowded the bar of the Lords, and covered the steps of the 
throne. It was generally expected that the orator would 
break down ; but his most malicious hearers were forced to 

945 own that he had made a better figure than they expected. 
They, indeed, ridiculed his action as theatrical, and his style 
as tumid. They were especially amused by the long pauses 
which, not from hesitation, but from affectation, he made at 
all the emphatic words, and Charles Townshend cried out, 

950 " Minute guns ! " The general opinion however was, that, if 
Bute had been early practised in debate, he might have be- 
come an impressive speaker. 

In the Commons, George Grenville had been entrusted with 
the lead. The task was not, as yet, a very difficult one ; for 

955 Pitt did not think fit to raise the standard of opposition. His 
speeches at this time were distinguished, not only by that 
eloquence in which he excelled all his rivals, but also by a 
temperance and a modesty which had too often been wanting 
to his character. When war was declared against Spain, he 

960 justly laid claim to the merit of having foreseen what had at 
length become manifest to all, but he carefully abstained from 
arrogant and acrimonious expressions ; and this abstinence was 
the more honorable to him, because his temper, never very 
placid, was now severely tried, both by gout and by calumny. 

965 The courtiers had adopted a mode of warfare, which was soon 
turned with far more formidable effect against themselves. 
Half the inhabitants of the Grub Street garrets paid their milk 
scores and got their shirts out of pawn, by abusing Pitt. His 
German war, his subsidies, his pension, his wife's peerage, 

970 were shin of beef, and gin, blankets, and baskets of small coal, 



949. Charles Townshend. 1726-1767.— See line . 

9(5?. Grnb Street garrets.— Grub Street was once famous as the resi- 
dence of second-rate authors and literary hacks. "I'd sooner ballads write 
and Qrub Street lays."— Gay. 



42 WILLIAM PITT, EARL OF CHATHAM. 

to the starving poetasters of the Fleet. Even in the House of 
Commons, he was, on one occasion during this session, as- 
sailed with an insolence and malice which called forth the 
indignation of men of all parties ; but he endured the outrage 

975 with majestic patience. In his younger days he had been but 
too prompt to retaliate on those who attacked him ; but now, 
conscious of his great services, and of the space which he filled 
in the eyes of all mankind, he would not stoop to personal 
squabbles. "This is no season,' 1 he said, in the debate on 

980 the Spanish war, "for altercation and recrimination. A day 
has arrived when every Englishman should stand forth for 
his country. Arm the whole ; be one people ; forget every 
thing but the public. I set you the example. Harassed by 
slanderers, sinking under pain and disease, for the public I 

985 forget both my wrongs and infirmities !" On a general re- 
view of his life, we are inclined to think that his genius and 
virtue never shone with so pure an effulgence as during the 
session of 1762. 

The session drew towards the close ; and Bute, emboldened 

99° by the acquiescence of the Houses, resolved to strike another 
great blow, and to become first minister in name as well as in 
reality. That coalition, which a few months before had seemed 
all powerful, had been dissolved. The retreat of Pitt had 
deprived the government of popularity. Newcastle had exulted 

995 in the fall of the illustrious colleague whom he envied and 
dreaded, and had not foreseen that his own doom was at 
hand. He still tried to flatter himself that he was at the 
head of the government-; but insults heaped 011 insults at 
length undeceived him. Places which had always been con- 

tooosidered as in his gift were bestowed without any references 
to him. His expostulations only called forth significant hints 
that it was time for him to retire. One day he pressed on 
Bute the claims of a Whig Prelate to the archbishopric of 
York. "If your grace thinks so highly of him, 1 ' answered 

971. Poetasters of the Fleet.— The Flee! was th.- famous London prison 
for debtors, so called from its situation near Fleet Brook. It was removed 
in 1844. 

" Go carry Sir John Falstaff to tin' fleet. Take all his company along with 
him. "—Homy IV., part 2, act v., sc. 5. 



WILLIAM PITT, KARL OF CHATHAM. 43 

1005 Bute, "I wonder that you did not promote him when you 

had the power." Still the old man clung with a desperate 
grasp to 1 lie wreck. Seldom, indeed, have christian meekness 
and Christian humility equalled the meekness and humility 
of his patient and abject ambition. At length he was forced 

ioioto understand that all was over. He quitted that Court where 
he had held high office during forty-five years, and hid his 
shame and regret among the cedars of Claremont. Bute be- 
came first lord of the treasury. 

The favorite had undoubtedly committed a great error. It 

jois is impossible to imagine a tool better suited to his purposes 
than that which he thus threw away, or rather put into the 
hands of his enemies. If Newcastle had been suffered to play 
at being first minister, Bute might securely and quietly have 
enjoyed the substance of power. The gradual introduction of 

«zo Tories into all the departments of the government might have 
been effected without any violent clamor, if the chief of the 
great Whig connection had been ostensibly at the head of 
affairs. This was strongly represented to Bute by Lord 
Mansfield, a man who may justly be called the father of 

102s modern Toryism — of Toryism modified to suit an order of 
things under which the House of Commons is the most 
powerful body in the state. The theories which had dazzled 
Bute could not impose on the fine intellect of Mansfield. The 
temerity with which Bute provoked the hostility of powerful 

1030 and deeply rooted interests was displeasing to Mansfield's 
cold and timid nature. Expostulation, however, was vain. Bute 
was impatient of advice, drunk with success, eager to be, in 
show as well as reality, the head of the government. He had 
engaged in an undertaking in which a screen was absolutely 

1035 necessary to his success, and even to his safety. He found 
an excellent screen ready in the very place where it was most 
needed ; and he rudely pushed it away. 

And now the new system of government came into full 
operation. For the first time since the accession of the House 

1040 of Hanover, the Tory party was in the ascendant. The prime 
1023. Lord Mansfield.— See note S31. 



44 WILLIAM PITT, KARL OF CHATHAM. 

minister himself was a Tory. Lord Egreniont, who had suc- 
ceeded Pin as Secretary of State, was a Tory, and the son of 
a Tory. Sir Francis Dashwood, a man of slender parts, of 
small experience, and of notoriously immoral character, was 

1045 made Chancellor of the Exchequer, for no reason that could 
be imagined, except that he was a Tory, and had been a 
Jacobite. The royal household was filled with men whose 
favorite toast, a few years before, had been the King over the 
water. The relative position of the two greal national seats 

1050 of learning was suddenly changed. The University of Oxford 
had long been the chief seat of disaffection. In troubled 
times, the High Street had been lined with bayonets ; the 
colleges had been searched by the King's messengers. Grave 
doctors were in the habit of talking very Ciceronian treason 

1055 in the theater; and the undergraduates drank bumpers to 
Jacobite toasts, and chanted Jacobite airs. Of four succes- 
sive Chancellors of the University, one had notoriously been 
in the Pretender's service ; the other three were fully believed 
to be in secret correspondence with the exiled family. Cam- 

1060 bridge had therefore been especially favored by the Han- 
overian Princes, and had shown herself grateful for their 
patronage. George the First had enriched her library ; 
George the Second had contributed munificently to her Senate 
House. Bishoprics and deaneries were showered on her 

1065 children. Her Chancellor was Newcastle, the chief of the 
Whig aristocracy; her High Steward was Hardwicke, the 
Whig head of the law. Both her burgesses had held office 
under the Whig ministry. Times had now changed. The 
University of Cambridge was received at St. James's with 

1070 comparative coldness. The answers to the addresses of Oxford 
were all graciousness and warmth. 

101:}. Sir Francis Dashwood.— He was described by one of the wits of 

the day as "a man to whom a sum of five figures was an Impenetrable 

secret.'' 

1048. The king over the water.— The young Pretender lived in France. 
One Jacobite song sung especially by Scotch sympathizers: 
" Over the water, and over the sea. 

And over the water to Charlie ; 
Come weal, come woe. we 11 gather and go, 
And live or die with Charlie." 
1067. Her burgesses.— Her representatives in Parliament 



45 

The watchwords of the new government were prerogative 
and purity. The sovereign was no longer to be a. puppet in 
the hands of any subject, or of any combination of subjects. 

1075 George the Third would not be forced to lak<> ministers whom 
he disliked, as his grandfather had been forced to lake Pitt. 
George the Third would not be forced to part with any whom 
he delighted to honor, as his grandfather had been forced to 
part with Carteret. At the same time, the system of bribery 

1080 which had grown up during the late reigns was to cease. It 
was ostentatiously proclaimed that, since the accession of the 
young King, neither constituents nor representatives had been 
bought with the secret service money. To free Britain from 
corruption and oligarchical cabals, to detach her from conti- 

1085 nental connections, to bring the bloody and expensive war 
with France and Spain to a close, such were the specious ob- 
jects which Bute professed to procure. 

Some of these objects he obtained. England withdrew, at 
the cost of a deep stain on her faith, from her German con- 

io 90 nections. The war with France and Spain was terminated by 
a peace, honorable indeed and advantageous to our country, 
yet less honorable and less advantageous than might have been 
expected from a long and almost unbroken scries of victories, 
by land and sea, in every part of the world. But the only 

1095 effect of Bute's domestic administration was to make faction 
wilder, and corruption fouler than ever. 

The mutual animosity of the Whig and Tory parties had 
begun to languish after the fall of Walpole, and had seemed 
to be almost extinct at the close of the reign of George the 

1100 Second. It now revived in all its force. Many Whigs, it is 
true, were still in office. The Duke of Bedford had signed the 



1079. Carteret. John Carteret, Earl Granville, 1G90-1TG3. — An able Whip; 
statesman, and member of rhe cabinet under Walpole. The Pel hams forced 
the king to part with Carteret, See Macuulay's first " Essay on the Earl of 
Chatham." 

1089. German connections.— Frederick the Great was almost ruined by 
the withdrawal of the English subsidies promised by Pitt. Bute offered to 
negotiate a peace on the basis of giving Silesia to Austria and East Prussia 
to Russia. 

1091. A Peace.— The Peace of Paris, September, 1763, closed the Seven 
Years' War. The real gains of England were in America and India. 



46 WILLIAM TITT, EARL OP CHATHAM. 

treaty with France. The Duke of Devonshire, though much 
out of humor, still continued to be Lord Chamberlain. Gren- 
villc, who led the House of Commons, and Fox, who still 

1105 enjoyed in silence the immense gains of the Pay Office, had 
always been regarded as strong Whigs. But the bulk of the 
party throughout the country regarded the new minister with 
abhorrence. There was, indeed, no want of popular themes 
for invective against his character. He was a favorite ; and 

it 10 favorites have always been odious in this country. No mere 
favorite had been at the head of the government since the 
dagger of Felton had reached the heart of the Duke of Buck- 
ingham. After that event the most arbitrary and the most 
frivolous of the Stuarts had felt the necessity of confiding the 

1115 chief direction of affairs to men who had given some proof of 
parliamentary or official talent. Strafford, Falkland, Claren- 
don, Clifford, Shaftesbury, Lauderdale, Danby, Temple, Hali- 
fax, Rochester, Sunderland, whatever their faults might be, 
were all men of acknowledged ability. They did not owe 

1120 their eminence merely to the favor of the sovereign. On the 
contrary, they owed the favor of the sovereign to their emi- 
nence. Most of them, indeed, had first attracted the notice of 
the court by the capacity and vigor which they had shown in 
opposition. The Revolution seemed to have for ever secured 

1125 the state against the domination of a Can* or a Villiers. Now, 
however, the personal regard of the Kin-- had at once raised a 
man who had seen nothing of public business, who had never 
opened his lips in Parliament, over the heads of a crowd of 
eminent orators, financiers, diplomatists. From a private gen- 

xi3°tleman, this fortunate minion had at once been turned into a 



HO'2. Duke of Devonshire.— Prime Minister for short time under George 
II. Tie was called " Prince of Whigs v by the Princess-mother. 

110-1 Lord Chamberlain. The chief functionary of a royal household. 
He is always a peer of high rank, and .i-'<>es out with the ministry. 

1105. Pay-office.— See p. 21, line 887. It was "usual for foreign princes 
who received the pay of England to give t" the paymaster of the forces a 
small percentage on the subsidies/ 1 

1112. Duke of Buckingham. George Villiers, the favorite of James L 
and Charles 1. Assassinated in 1<>",'S. 

lilt;. Strafford. See note s '-'. 

Falkland, etc.— Bee English history during the Stuarts. 

1186. Carr A worthless favorite of James 1., before Buckingham. 



WILLIAM PITT, EARL OF CHATHAM. 47 

Secretary of State. He had made his maiden speech when at 
the bead of the administration. The vulgar resorted to a 
simple explanation of the phenomenon, and the coarsest 

ribaldry against the Princess Mother was scrawled on every 

"35 wall and sung in every alley. 

This was not all. The spirit of party, roused by impolitic 
provocation from its long sleep, roused in turn a still fiercer 
and more malignant Fury, the spirit of national animosity. 
The grudge of Whig against Tory was mingled with the grudge 

iMoof Englishman against Scot. The two sections of the great 
British people had not yet been indissolubly blended together. 
The events of 1715 and of 1745 had left painful and enduring 
traces. The tradesmen of Cornhill had been in dread of 
seeing their tills and warehouses plundered by bare-legged 

II45 mountaineers from the Grampians. They still recollected that 
Black Friday, when the news came that the rebels were at 
Derby, when all the shops in the city were closed, and when 
the Bank of England began to pay in sixpences. The Scots, 
on the other hand, remembered with natural resentment, the 

1150 severity with which the insurgents had been chastised, the 
military outrages, the humiliating laws, the heads fixed on 
Temple Bar, the fires and quartering blocks on Kennington 
Common. The favorite did not suffer the English to forget 
from what part of the island he came. The cry of all the 

1I55 south was that the public offices, the army, the navy, were 
tilled with high-cheeked Drummondsand Erskines, Macdonalds 
and Macgillivrays, who could not talk a Christian tongue, and 
some of whom had but lately begun to wear Christian breeches. 
All the old jokes on hills without trees, girls without stockings, 



1141. Blended together. (Redundancy.)— England and .Scotland were 
united in 1707. 

1152. Temple liar.— A historic boundary in London, dividing the city Of 
London from the liberty of Westminster. Adjoining the Temple stood the 
Bar, or gate-way of stone for passage of carriages. Above the center of the 
arch were iron spikes on which were exhibited the heads of persons 
executed for treason. 

1152. Kennington Common.— Until the close of the ISth century, the 
usual place of execution for this division of the County of Sussex. In' 1S52, 
inclosed and laid out as pleasure-grounds. 

1150. High-cheeked Drummonds, etc.— Highlanders of Scotland. 



48 WILLIAM PITT, EARL OF CHATHAM. 

«6o men eating the food of horses, pails emptied from the four- 
teenth story, were pointed against these lueky adventurers. 
To the honor of the Scots it must be said, that their prudence 
and their pride restrained them from retaliation. Like the 
princess in the Arabian tale, they stopped their ears tight, and, 

1 165 unmoved by the shrillest notes of abuse, walked on, without 
once looking round, straight towards the Golden Fountain. 

Bute, who had always been considered as a man of taste 
and reading, affected, from the moment of his elevation, the 
character of a Maecenas. If he expected to conciliate the 

1170 public by encouraging literature and art, he was grievously 
mistaken. Indeed, none of the objects of his munificence, with 
the single exception of Johnson, can be said to have been well 
selected ; and the public, not unnaturally, ascribed the selec- 
tion of Johnson, rather to the Doctor's political prejudices 

n 7S than to his literary merits: for a wretched scribbler named 
Shebbeare, who had nothing in common with Johnson except 
violent Jaeobitism, and who had stood in the pillory for a libel 
on the Revolution, was honored with a mark of royal appro- 
bation, similar to that which was bestowed on the author of 

n8othe English Dictionary, and of the Vanity of Human Wishes. 
It was remarked that Adam, a Scotchman, was the court 
architect, and that Eamsay, a Scotchman, was the court 
painter, and was preferred to Reynolds. Mallet, a Sci ttchman, 
of no high literary fame, and of infamous character, partook 

1185 largely of the liberality of the government. John Home, a 
Scotchman, was rewarded for the tragedy of Douglas, both 
with a pension and with a sinecure place. But, when the 



1160. "Oats, a grain which in England is generally given to horses, but 
in Scotland supports the people."— Johnson's Dictionary. 

1164. •* The Story of the Princess Parizade " in the "Arabian Nights' 
Entertainments. " 

1169. Maecenas.— An allusion to C. Maecenas, a Roman statesman in the 
reign of Augustus, who was the Friend and patron of Virgil and Eorace 

117;!. Johnson. Dr. Samuel Johnson, 1709-1784.— The '•Literary Dic- 
tator " of the 18th century. Principal works. "The English Dictionary," 
" Lives of British Poets" " Preface and Notes to Shakespeare, V -Vanity of 
Human Wishes," " Rasselas." 

1177. Pillory. The pillory was used in England as late as 1887. 

1 18.L Reynolds. Sir Joshua Reynolds, 17^3-179^.— A celebrated English 
portrait painter. 



WILLIAM PITT, EARL OF CHATHAM. 49 

.author of the Bard, and of the Elegy in a Country Church- 
yard, ventured to ask for a Professorship, the emoluments of 

"9° which he much needed, and for the duties of which he was, in 
many respects, better qualified than any man living, he was 
refused ; and the post was bestowed on the pedagogue under 
whose care the favorite's son-in-law, Sir James Lowther, 
had made such signal proficiency in the graces and in the 

1195 humane virtues. 

Thus, the first lord of the treasury was detested by many 
as a Tory, by many as a favorite, and by many as a Scot. 
All the hatred which flowed from these various sources soon 
mingled, and was directed in one torrent of obloquy against 

i2oothe treaty of peace. The Duke of Bedford, who had negotiated 
that treaty, was hooted through the streets. Bute was at- 
tacked in his chair, and was with difficulty rescued by a troop 
of the guards. He could hardly walk the streets in safety with- 
out disguising himself. A gentleman who died not many 

1205 years ago used to say that he once recognized the favoite Earl 
in the piazza of Covent Garden, muffled in a large coat, and 
with a hat and wig drawn down over his brows. His lordship's 
established type with the mob was a jack boot, a wretched pun 
on his Christian name and title. A jack boot, generally ac- 

I2IO companied by a petticoat, was sometimes fastened on a gallows, 
and sometimes committed to the flames. Libels on the court, 
exceeding in audacity and rancor any that had been published 
for many years, now appeared daily both in prose and verse. 
Wilkes, with lively insolence, compared the mother of George 



1188. Author of the Bard, etc.— Thomas Gray, 1716-1771. 

1202. In his chair.— In the eighteenth century the sedan chair was the 
vehicle used by the nobility of London in going short distances. 

1206. Covent Garden.— Properly Convent Garden, so called from having 
been originally the garden of the abbey at Westminster. It was afterwards 
occupied by taverns and coffee houses, the resort of wits and literary men. 
" As the exchange is the heart of London .... so is Covent Garden the 
heart of the town."— Steele. 

1214. Wilkes. John Wilkes, 1727-1797.— A worthless profligate, with " the 
remarkable faculty of enlisting popular sympathy on his side." He was 
instrumental in bringing about three great reforms : the recognition by 
Parliament of the right of every constituency to return the member of its 
choice, the freedom of the press, and the reporting of the debates in Parlia- 
ment. 



50 WILLIAM PITT, EARL OF CHATHAM. 

1215 the Third to the mother of Edward the Third, find the Scotch 
minister to the gentle Mortimer. Churchill, with all the 
energy of hatred, deplored the fate of his country, invaded by 
a new race of savages, more cruel and ravenous than the Picts 
or the Danes, the poor, proud children of Leprosy and Hunger. 

1220 it is a slight circumstance, but deserves to be recorded, that 
in this year pamphleteers first ventured to print at length the 
names of the great men whom they lampooned. George the 

Second had always been the K . His ministers had been 

Sir r w , Mr. P , and the Duke of N . But 

1225 the libellers of George the Third, of the Princess Mother, and 
of Lord Bute did not give quarter to a single vowel. 

It was supposed that Lord Temple secretly encouraged the 
most scurrilous assailants of the goverment. In truth, those 
who knew his habits tracked him as men track a mole. It 

1230 was his nature to grub underground. Whenever a heap of 
dirt was flung up, it might well be suspected that he was at 
work in some foul crooked labyrinth below. Pitt turned away 
from the filthy work of opposition, with the same scorn with 
which he had turned away from the filthy work of government. 

1235 He had the magnanimity to proclaim everywhere the disgust 
which he felt at the insults offered by his own adherents to the 
Scottish nation, aud missed no opportunity of extolling the 
courage and fidelity which the Highland regiments had dis- 
played through the whole war. But, though he disdained to 

1240 use any but lawful and honorable weapons, it was well known 
that his fair blows were likely to be far more formidable than 
the privy thrusts of his brother-in-law's stiletto. 

Bute's heart began to fail him. The Houses were about to 
meet. The treaty would instantly be the subject of discussion. 

1215. Mother of Edward the Third.— Queen Isabella, wife of Edward 
II., more beautiful than moral, witb Roger Mortimer sbe plotted the de- 
thronementof her husband. Edward 111. had Mortimer hanged, and bis 
mother placed (n close confinement. 

1216. Churchill. Charles Churchill, 1781-1764.— A poet and satirist. A 
friend of Wilkes. 

1-,'is. The Plots. Rude tribes of Scotland, who overran England during 
the Roman occupation. 

1219. The Danes.— Another Teutonic tribe who invaded England (then 
under Anglo-Saxon rule) in the ninth century. 

Leprosy,— For many years Scotland was afflicted with leprosy. 



WILLIAM PITT, KARL OF CHATHAM. 51 

i»45 It was probable thai Pitt, thegreal Whig connection, and the 
multitude, would all be on the same side. The favorite had 

professed to hold in abhorrence those means by which preced- 
ing ministers had kept the House of Commons in good humor. 
He now began to think that he had been too scrupulous. His 

1250 Utopian visions were at an end. It was necessary, not only to 
bribe, but to bribe more shamelessly and flagitiously than his 
predecessors, in order to make up for lost time. A majority 
must be secured, no matter by what means. Could Grenville 
do this? Would he do it? His firmness and ability had not 

1255 yet been tried in any perilous crisis. He had been generally 
regarded as a humble follower of his brother Temple, and of 
his brother-in-law Pitt, and was supposed, though with little 
reason, to be still favorably inclined towards them. Other 
aid must be called in. And where was other aid to be found ? 

1260 There was one man, whose sharp and manly logic had often 
in debate been found a match for the lofty and impassioned 
rhetoric of Pitt, whose talents for jobbing were not inferior to 
his talents for debate, whose dauntless spirit shrank from no 
difficulty or danger, and who was as little troubled with 

1265 scruples as with fears. Henry Fox, or nobody, could weather 
the storm which was about to burst. Yet was he a person to 
whom the court, even in that extremity, was unwilling to have 
recourse. He had always been regarded as a Whig of the 
Whigs. He had been the friend and disciple of Walpole. He 

1270 had long been connected by close ties with William, Duke of 
Cumberland. By the Tories he was more hated than any man 
living. So strong was their aversion to him that when, in the 
late reign, he had attempted to form a party against the Duke 
of Newcastle, they had thrown all their weight into Newcastle's 

1275 scale. By the Scots, Fox was abhorred as the confidential 
friend of the conqueror of Culloden. He was, on personal 
grounds, most obnoxious to the Princess Mother. For he had, 

1245. Whig connection.— See lines 280-292. 

1250. Utopian.— From Sir Thomas More's account of an id^al common- 
wealth, " Utopia." 

1200. One man, 1 1 <nry Fox.— See note 332. 

1270. William, Duke of Cumberland. 1721-1705— Son of George II., 
and uncle of George III. See note 164. 



52 WILLIAM TITT, EARL OF CHATHAM. 

immediately after her husband's death, advised the late King 
to take the education of her son, the heir apparent, entirely 

1280 out of her hands. He had recently given, if possible, still 
deeper offense ; for he had indulged, not without some ground, 
the ambitious hope that his beautiful sister-in-law, the Lady 
Sarah Lennox, might be queen of England. It had been ob- 
served that the King at one time rode every morning by the 

1285 grounds of Holland House, and that, on such occasions. Lady 
Sarah, dressed like a shepherdess at a masquerade, was making 
hay close to the road, which was then separated by no wall 
from the lawn. On account of the part which Fox had taken 
in this singular love affair, he was the only member of the 

1299 Privy Council who was not summoned to the meeting at which 
his Majesty announced his intended marriage with the 
Princess of Mecklenburg. Of all the statesmen of the age, 
therefore, it seemed that Fox was the last with whom Bute, 
the Tory, the Sect, the favorite of the Princess Mother, could, 

I295 under any circumstances, act. Yet to Fox Bute was now 
compelled to apply. 

Fox had many noble and amiable qualities, which in private 
life shone forth in full luster, and made him dear to his chil- 
dren, to his dependents, and to his friends ; but as a public 

I300 man he had no title to esteem. In him the vices which were 
common to the whole school of Walpole appeared, not perhaps 
in their worst, but certainly in their most prominent form ; 
for his parliamentary and official talents made all his faults 
conspicuous. His courage, his vehement temper, his contempt 

1305 for appearances, led him to display much that others, quite 
as unscrupulous as himself, covered with a decent veil. He 
was the most unpopular of the statesmen of his time, not 
because he sinned more than many of them, but because he 
canted less. 



K'85. Holland House.— Beyond Kensington, the seat of the Earl of Hol- 
land. Henry Fox became Lord Holland in 1783. 

1391. Intended Marriage. — This was brought about by Bute and the 
Princess-mot her, who wen- alarmed at the king's fancy for Lady Sarah 
Lennox. 

l.".)?- 131 6.— Observe variation from the exactness of antithetical structure, 
and the effect of such variation. 



WILLIAM PITT, KARL OF CHATHAM 53 

1310 He felt his unpopularity ; but he felt it after the fashion of 
strong minds. He became, not cautious, but reckless, and 
faced the rage of the whole nation with a scowl of inflex- 
ible defiance. He was born with a sweet and generous tem- 
per ; but he had been goaded and baited into a savageness 

131s which was not natural to him, and which amazed and shocked 
those who knew him best. Such was the man to whom Bute, 
in extreme need, applied for succor. 

That succor Fox was not unwilling to afford. Though 
by no means of an envious temper, he had undoubtedly 

1320 contemplated the success and popularity of Pitt with bitter 
mortification. He thought himself Pitt's match as a debater, 
and Pitt's superior as a man of business. They had long 
been regarded as w ell-paired rivals. They had started fair 
in the career of ambition. They had long run side by side. 

J 3 2 5At length Fox had taken the lead, and Pitt had fallen 
behind. Then had come a sudden turn of fortune, like that 
in Virgil's foot race, Fox had stumbled in the mire, and had 
not only been defeated, but befouled. Pitt had reached 
the goal, and received the prize. The emoluments of the Pay 

1330 Office might induce the defeated statesman to submit in 
silence to the ascendancy of his competitor, but could not 
satisfy a mind conscious of great powers, and sore from great 
vexations. As soon, therefore, as a party arose adverse to the 
war and to the supremacy of the great war minister, the hopes 

1335 of Fox began to revive. His feuds with the Princess Mother, 
with the Scots, with the Tories, he was ready to forget, if, by 
the help of his old enemies, he could now regain the impor- 
tance which he had lost, and confront Pitt on equal terms. 
The alliance was, therefore, soon concluded. Fox was 

I34 o assured that, if he would pilot the government out of its em- 
barrassing situation, he should be rewarded with a peerage, of 
which he had long been desirous. He undertook on his side 
to obtain, by fair or foul means, a vote in favor of the peace. 



1327. Virgil's foot-race. " ZGneid," Book V., JJ88-3G1. -Show aptness of 
the illustration. Virgil, 70-19, B.C. 
1343. Vote for peace.— See note 1091. 



54 WILLIAM PITT, EARL OF CHATHAM. 

In consequence of this arrangement he became leader of the 

1345 House of Commons; and Grenville, stifling his vexation as 
well as he could, sullenly acquiesced in the change. 

Fox had expected that his influence would secure to the 
court the cordial support of some eminent Whigs who were Ins 
personal friends, particularly of the Duke of Cumberland and 

i35oof the Duke of Devonshire. He was disappointed, and soon 
found that, in addition to all his other difficulties, he musl 
reckon on the opposition of the ablest prince of the blood, and 
of the great house of Cavendish. 

But he had pledged himself to win the battle ; and he was 

1355 not a man to go back. It was no time for squeamishness. 
Bute was made to comprehend that the ministry could be 
saved only by practicing the tactics of Walpole to an extent at 
which Walpole himself would have stared. The Pay Office 
was turned into a mart for votes. Hundreds of members were 

1360 closeted there with Fox, and, as there is too much reason to 
believe, departed carrying with them the wages of infamy. 
It was affirmed by persons who had the best opportunities of 
obtaining information, that twenty-five thousand pounds were 
thus paid away in a single morning. The lowest bribe given, 

I3 6 5 it was said, was a bank-note for two hundred pounds. 

Intimidation was joined with corruption. All ranks, from 
the highest to the lowest, were to be taught that the King 
would be obeyed. The Lords Lieutenants of several counties 
were dismissed. The Duke of Devonshire was especially 

1370 singled out as the victim by whose fate the magnates of 
England were to take warning. His wealth, rank, and in- 
fluence, his stainless private character, and theeoiistant attach- 
ment of his family to the House of Hanover did not secure him 
from gross personal indignity. It was known that he dis- 

, 375 approved of the course which the government had taken ; and 
it was accordingly determined to humble the Prince of the 
Whigs, as he had been nicknamed by the Princess Mother. 
He went to the palace to pay his duty. " Tell him," said the 

1359. A mart for votes £82,000 of secret-service money was spent 

during Hi'' year. Bee note 218. 
1308. JLorUs Lieutenants*— See dictionary. 



WILLIAM PITT, EARL OF CHATHAM. 55 

King to a page, "that I will nol see him." The page hesi- 

*38otated. "Go to him," said the King, "and tell him those 
very words." The message was delivered. The Duke toreoff 
his gold key, and went away boiling with anger. His relations 
who were in office instantly resigned. A few days later, the 
King called for the list of Privy Councillors, and with his own 

1385 hand struck out the Duke's name. 

In this step there was at least courage, though little wisdom 
or good nature. But, as nothing was too high for the revenge 
of the court, so also was nothing too low. A persecution, such 
as had never been known before, and has never been known 

i 39 d since, raged in every public department. Great numbers of 
humble and laborious clerks were deprived of their bread, not 
because they had neglected their duties, not because they had 
taken an active part against the ministry, but merely because 
they had owed their situations to the recommendation of some 

I395 nobleman or gentleman who was against the peace. The pro- 
scription extended to tidewaiters, to gangers, to doorkeepers. 
One poor man to whom a pension had been given for his gal- 
lant ry in a fight with smugglers was deprived of it because he 
had been befriended by the Duke of Grafton. An aged widow, 

1400 who, on account of her husband's services in the navy, had, 
many years before, been made housekeeper to a public office, 
was dismissed from her situation, because it was imagined 
that she was distantly connected by marriage with the Caven- 
dish family. The public clamor, as may well be supposed, 

1405 grew daily louder and louder. But the louder it grew, the 
more resolutely did Fox go on with tin; work which lie had 
begun. His old friends could not conceive what had possessed 
him. "I could forgive," said the Duke of Cumberland, 
" Fox's political vagaries; but I am quite confounded by his 

1410 inhumanity. Surely he used to be the best-natured of men." 
At last Fox went so far as to take a legal opinion on the 
question, whether the patents granted by George the Second 

1382 Gold key — Badge of office. See line 1102. 

1.109. Duke of Grafton See line 

1418. Patents granted.— Titles of nobility granted for life. The (Mian 
cellor said in reply, " Yes. they might lay the idea before the Judges, and 
then refer Magna Charta to them afterwards, to decide on that, too," 



56 WILLIAM PITT, EARL OP CHATHAM. 

were binding on George the Third. It is said that, if his col- 
leagues had not flinched, he would at once have turned out the 

1415 Tellers of the Exchequer and Justices in K\ re. 

Meanwhile the Parliament met. The ministers, more hated 
by the people than ever, were secure of a majority, and they 
had also reason to hope that they would have the advantage in 
the debates as well as in the divisions ; for Pitt was confined 

i4?oto his chamber by a severe attack of gout. His friends 
moved to defer the consideration of the treaty till he should 
be able to attend ; but the motion was rejected. The great 
day arrived. The discussion had lasted some time, when a 
loud huzza was heard in Palace Yard. The noise came nearer 

1425 and nearer, up the stairs, through the lobby. The door 
opened, and from the midst of a shouting multitude came 
forth Pitt, borne in the arms of his attendants. His face was 
thin and ghastly, his limbs swathed in flannel, his crutch in 
his hand. The bearers set him down within the bar. His 

1430 friends instantly surrounded him, and with their help he 
crawded to his seat near the table. In this condition he spoke 
three hours and a half against the peace. During that time 
he was repeatedly forced to sit down and to use cordials. It 
may well be supposed that his voice was faint, that his action 

1435 was languid, and that his speech, though occasionally brilliant 
and impressive, was feeble when compared with his best ora- 
torical performances. But those who remembered what he 
had done, and who saw what he suffered, listened to him with 
emotions stronger than any that mere eloquence can produce. 

1440 He was unable to stay for the division, and was carried away 
from the House amidst shouts as loud as those which had an- 
nounced his arrival. 

A large majority approved the peace. The exultation of 
the court was boundless. "Now," exclaimed the Princess 

M45 Mother, " my son is really King." The young sovereign spoke 
of himself as freed from the bondap' in which his grand- 
Mis.— TeUers of the Exchequer and Justices in Kyre.-See ilic- 

1417-1442. Another vivid picture, full of action. Effective use of detail 
and concrete description. 



WILLIAM PITT, EAftL OF CHATHAM. 57 

father had been held. On one point, it was announced, his 
mind was unalterably made up. Onder no circumstances 

whatever should those Whig grandees, who had enslaved his 

■45' 1 predecessors and endeavored to enslave himself, be restored 
to power. 

This vaunting was premature. The real strength of the 
favorite was by no means proportioned to the number of votes 
which he had, on one particular division, been able to command. 

1455 lie was soon again in difficulties. The most important part of 
his budget was a tax on cider. This measure was opposed, not 
only by those who were generally hostile to his administration, 
but also by many of his supporters. The name of Excise had 
always been hateful to the Tories. One of the chief crimes of 

1460 wal pole, in their eyes, had been his partiality for this mode 
of raising money. The Tory Johnson had in his Dictionary 
given so scurrilous a definition of the w T ord Excise, that the 
Commissioners of Excise had seriously thought of prosecuting 
him. The counties which the new impost particularly affected 

1465 had always been Tory counties. It was the boast of John 
Philips, the poet of the English vintage, that the Cider-land 
had ever been faithful to the throne, and that all the pruning- 
hooks of her thousand orchards had been beaten into swords 
for the service of the ill-fated Stuarts. The effect of Bute's 

1470 fiscal scheme was to produce a union between the gentry and 
yeomanry of Cider-land and the Whigs of the capital. Here- 
fordshire and Worcestershire were in a flame. The city of 
London, though not so directly interested, was, if possible, 
still more excited. The debates on this question irreparably 

i 475 damaged the government. Dashwood's financial statement 
had been confused and absurd beyond belief, and had been 
received by the House with roars of laughter. He had sense 

1456. Budget.— See note 712. 

1462. Kxcise.— Dr. Johnson's definition, "A hateful tax upon commodi- 
ties, and adjudged not by common judges of property, hut by wretches 
hired by those to whom excise is paid." Wal pole's plan was '"to transfer 
the taxes on tobacco and wine from the customs to the excise." i.e.. levy a 
tax at the manufactory instead of at the port. The object was to prevent 
smuggling. 

1 170. <;«-ntry and yeomanry.— See dictionary. 

1475. Dashwood.- See note 1045, 



58 WILLIAM TITT, KA.BL <>F CHATHAM. 

enough to be conscious of his unfitness for the high situation 
which lie hold, and exclaimed in a comical fit of despair, 

1480 ""What shall I do? The boys will point at mo in the street, 
and cry, 'There goes the worst Chancellor of the Exchequer 
that ever was.' 1 ' George Grenville came to the rescue, and 
spoke strongly on his favorite theme, the prolusion with which 
the late war bad been carried on. That profusion, he said, 

I4Ss had made taxes necessary. He called on the gentleman oppo- 
site to him to say where they would have a tax laid, and 
dwelt on this topic with his usual prolixity. " Lot them tell 
me where," he repeated in a monotonous and somewhat fret- 
ful tone. "I say, sir, let them tell me where. I repeat it, 

1490 sir ; I am entitled to say to them, Tell me where." Unluckily 
for him, Pitt had come down to the House that night, and had 
been bitterly provoked by the reflections thrown on the war. 
He revenged himself by murmuring, in a whine resembling 
Grenville's, a line of a well known song, "Gentle Shepherd, 

1495 tell me where." " If," cried Grenville, "gentlemen are to be 

treated in this way '' Pitt, as was his fashion, when he 

meant to mark extreme contempt, rose deliberately, made his 
bow, and walked out of the House, leaving his brother-in-law 
in convulsions of rage, and every body else in convulsions of 

1500 laughter. It w T as long before Grenville lost the nickname of 
the Gentle Shepherd. 

But the ministry had vexations still more serious to endure. 
The hatred which the Tories and Scots bore to Fox was impla- 
cable. In a moment of extreme peril, they had consented to 

1505 put themselves under his guidance. But the aversion with 
which they regarded him broke forth as soon as the crisis 
seemed to be over. Some of them attacked him about the ac- 
counts of the Pay Office. Some of them rudely interrupted 
him when speaking, by laughter and ironical cheers. He was 

• 510 naturally desirous to escape from so disagreeable a situation, 
and demanded the peerage which had been promised as the 
reward of his services. 

1494. Gentle shepherd.— The burden of a popular song by Dr. Howard. 



WM.I.IAM PITT, GAEL OF CHATHAM. 



59 



It was clear thai there must be some change in (he compo- 
sition of the ministry. But scarcely any, even of those who, 

isxs from their situation, might be supposed to be i 1 1 .-ill the secrets 
of the government, anticipated what really took place. To 
the amazement of the Parliament and the nation, it was sud- 
denly announced that Bute had resigned. 

Twenty different explanations of this strange step were sug- 

i 5 2ogcsted. Some attributed it to profound design, and some to 
sudden panic. Some said that the lampoons of tin; opposition 
had driven the Earl from the field; some that he had taken 
office only in order to bring the war to a close, and had always 
meant to retire when that object had been accomplished. He 

IS 2 S publicly assigned ill health as his reason for (putting business, 
and privately complained that he was not cordially seconded 
by Ids colleagues, and that Lord Mansfield, in particular, whom 
he had himself brought into the cabinet, gave him no support 
in the House of Peers. Mansfield was, indeed, far too saga- 

i 53 o cious not to perceive that Bute's situation was one of great 
peril, and far too timorous to thrust himself into peril for the 
sake of another. The probability, however, is that Bute's 
conduct on this occasion, like the conduct of most men on 
most occasions, was determined by mixed motives. We sus- 

1535 P ect tna1 " ne was s ^ c ^ °f °ffi ce ; f° r this is a feeling much more 
common among ministers than persons who see public life 
from a distance are disposed to believe ; and nothing could be 
more natural than that this feeling should take possession of 
the mind of Bute. In general, a statesman climbs by slow 

1540 degrees. Many laborious years elapse before he reaches the 
topmost pinnacle of preferment. In the earlier part of his 
career, therefore, he is constantly lured on by seeing some- 
thing above him. During his ascent he gradually becomes 
inured to the annoyances which belong to a life of ambition. 

1545 By the time that he has attained the highest point, he has 
become patient of labor and callous to abuse. He is kept con- 
stant to his vocation, in spite of all its discomforts, at first by 
hope, and at last by habit. It was not so with Bute. Bis 
whole public life lasted little more than two years. On the 



60 WILLIAM PITT, EARL OF CHATHAM. 

1550 day on which he became a politician he became a cabinet min- 
ister. In a few months he was, both in nana' and in show, 
chief of He administration. Greater than he had been he 
could not be. If what he already possessed was vanity and 
vexation of spirit, no delusion remained to entice him onward. 

155 Be had been cloyed with the pleasures of ambition before he 
had been seasoned to its pains. His habits had not been sneh 
as were likely to fortify his mind against obloquy and public 
hatred. He had reached his forty-eighth year in dignified 
ease, without knowing, by personal experience, what it was to 

'560 be ridiculed and slandered. All at once, without any pre- 
vious initiation, he had found himself exposed to such a storm 
of invective and satire as had never burst on the head of any 
statesman. The emoluments of office were now nothing to 
him ; for he had just succeeded to a princely property by the 

z 5 6 5 death of his father-in-law. All the honors which could be be- 
stowed on him he had already secured. He had obtained the 
Garter for himself, and a British peerage for his son. He 
seems also to have imagined that by quitting the treasury he 
should escape from danger and abuse without really resigning 

1570 power, and should still be able to exercise in private supreme 
influence over the royal mind. 

Whatever may have been his motives, he retired. Fox at 
the same time took refuge in the House of Lords ; and George 
Grenville became First Lord of the Treasury and Chancellor 

1575 of the Exchequer. 

We believe that those who made this arrangement fully 
intended that Grenville should be a mere puppet in the hands 
of Bute; for Grenville was as yet very imperfectly known 
even to those who had observed him long. He passed for a 

1580 mere official drudge ; and he had all the industry, the minute 
accuracy, the formality, the tediousness, which belong to the 
character. But he had other qualities which had not yet shown 
themselves, devouring ambition, dauntless courage, self-confi- 
dence amounting to presumption, and a, temper which could 



1500. The Garter. Sec dictionary. 



WILLIAM PITT, EARL OP CHATHAM. Gl 

1585 not endure opposition. He was n<>! disposed to be anybody's 
tool ; and he had no attachment, polil ical <>r personal, to Bute. 
The two men had, indeed, DOthing in common, except a strong 
propensity towards harsh and unpopular courses. Their prin- 
ciples were fundamentally different. Bute was a Tory. Gren- 

1590 yiiio would have been very angry with any person who should 
have denied his claim to be a Whig. Be was more prone to 
tyrannical measures than Bute; but he loved tyranny only 
when disguised under the forms of constitutional liberty. He 
mixed up, after a fashion then not very unusual, the theories 

1595 of the republicans of the seventeenth century with the tech- 
nical maxims of English law, and thus succeeded in combining 
anarchical speculation with arbitrary practice. The voice of 
the people was the voice of God ; but the only legitimate organ 
through which the voice of the people could be uttered was 

1600 the Parliament. All power was from the people ; but to the 
Parliament the whole power of the people had been delegated. 
No Oxonian divine had ever, even in the years which imme- 
diately followed the Restoration, demanded for the King so 
abject, so unreasoning a homage, as Grenville, on what he con- 

l6 °5 sidered as the purest Whig principles, demanded for the Par- 
liament. As he wished to see the Parliament despotic over 
the nation, so he wished to see it also despotic over the court. 
In his view 7 the prime minister, possessed of the confidence of 
the House of Commons, ought to be Mayor of the Palace. The 

1610 King was a mere Childeric or Chilperic, who might well think 
himself lucky in being permitted to enjoy such handsome 
apartments at Saint James's, and so tine a park at Windsor. 

Thus the opinions of Bute and those of Grenville were dia- 
metrically opposed. Nor was there any private friendship 

1615 between the two statesmen. Grenville's nature was not for- 



1603. Restoration.— In 1600. when Charles II. returned to England after 
the period of the Commonwealth. 

1609. Mayor of the Palace In France, the first officers of state under 

the Merovingian kings were called Mayors of the Palace. They finally de- 
posed their sovereign and established a new line, the Carolinian. 

1610. Childeric and Chilperic, names of Merovingian kings. 

161-'. Windsor Park.— A park at Windsor, Euglaud, stocked with game 
for the use of the sovereigns. 



G2 V/ILLIAM PITT, EARL OF CHATHAM. 

giving ; and he well remembered how, a few months before, he 
had been compelled to yield the lead of the House of Commons 
to Fox. 

We are inclined to think, on the whole, that the worst ad- 

1620 ministration which has governed England since the Revolution 
was that of George Grenville. His public acts may be classed 
under two heads, outrages on the liberty of the people, and 
outrages on the dignity of the crown. 

He began by making war on the press. John Wilkes, mem- 

1625 ber of Parliament for Aylesbury, was singled out for persecu- 
tion. Wilkes had, till very lately, been known chiefly as one 
of the most profane, licentious, and agreeable rakes about 
town. He was a man of taste, reading, and engaging man- 
ners. His sprightly conversation was the delight of green- 

1630 rooms and taverns, and pleased even grave hearers when he 
was sufficiently under restraint to abstain from detailing the 
particulars of his amours, and from breaking jests on the 
New Testament. His expensive debaucheries forced him to 
have recourse to the Jews. He w T as soon a ruined man, and 

1635 determined to try his chance as a political adventurer. In 
parliament lie did not succeed. His speaking, (hough pert, 
was feeble, and by no means interested his hearers so much 
as to make them forget his face, which was so hideous that 
the caricaturists were forced, in their own despite, to flatter 

l6 4°him. As a writer he made a better figure. He set up a 
weekly paper called the North Briton. This journal, written 
with some pleasantry and great audacity and impudence, 
had a considerable number of readers. Forty-four numbers 
had been published when Bute resigned ; and, though almost 

1645 every number had contained matter grossly libelous, no prose- 
cution had been instituted. The forty-fifth number was inno- 
cent when compared with the majority of those which had 
preceded it, and, indeed, contained nothing so strong as may 
in our time be found daily in the leading articles of the Times 



1624. John Wilkes. Bee note 1214. 

The Times and Moraine Chronicle.— These papers were established 
Boon after 1 1 1 • - beginning of the Revolutionary War. 



WILLIAM TITT, EARL OF CHATHAM. C>?> 

1650 and Morning Chronicle. Bui Grenville was now at, the head 
of affairs. A new spirit had been infused into the adminis- 
tration. Authority was to be upheld. The government was 
no longer to be braved with impunity. Wilkes was arrested 

under a general warrant, conveyed to the Tower, and confined 

l6 55 there with circumstances of unusual severity. His papers 
were seized and carried to the Secretary of State. These 
harsh and illegal measures produced a violent outbreak of 
popular rage, which was soon changed to delight and exulta- 
tion. The arrest was pronounced unlawful by the Court of 

1660 Common Pleas, in which Chief Justice Pratt presided, and 
the prisoner was discharged. This victory over the govern- 
ment was celebrated with enthusiasm both in London and in 
the cider counties. 

While the ministers were daily becoming more odious to 

^65 the nation, they were doing their best to make themselves also 
odious to the court. They gave the King plainly to under- 
stand that they were determined not to be Lord Bute's crea- 
tures, and exacted a promise that no secret adviser should 
have access to the royal ear. They soon found reason to sus- 

l6 7° pect that this promise had not been observed. They remon- 
strated in terms less respectful than their master had been 
accustomed to hear, and gave him a fortnight to make his 
choice between his favorite and his cabinet. 

George the Third was greatly disturbed. He had but a few 

^675 weeks before exulted in his deliverance from the yoke of the 
great Whig connection. He had even declared that his honor 
would not permit him ever again to admit the members of 



1054. General warrants.— A. warrant by which officers may arrest any 

suspected person, no name being inserted. ' Illegal since 1766. See line 2468. 

1654. The Tower.— " The ancient and famous citadel of London." The 

Tower is famous for the distinguished prisoners of state who have been 
confined within its wall. It is now the depository of the crown jewels and 
national arms. 

1656. Papers seized.— See line 2469. 

1660. Court of Common Pleas.— A court for trial of civil actions be- 
tween subjects The chief civil court, presided over by a chief justice and 
four judges, and must be held at Westminster. 

166U Chief Justice Pratt. Charles Pratt. Karl of Camden, 1714-1794. — 
An eminent statesman and jurist, and a great friend of Pitt's. He opposed 
Lord North in relation to American taxation. 



G4 WILLIAM PITT, KARL OF CHATHAM. 

thai connection into his service. lie now found thai he had 
only exchanged one set of masters for another set still harsher 

1680 and more imperious. In his distress he thought on Pitt. 
From Pitt it was possible that better terms might be obtained 
than either from Grenville or from the party of which New- 
castle was the head. 

Grenville, on his return from an excursion into the country, 

i68 5 repaired to Buckingham House. He was astonished to find 
at the entrance a chair, the shape of which was well known to 
him, and indeed to all London. It was distinguished by a 
large boot, made for the purpose of accommodating the great 
Commoner's gouty leg. Grenville guessed the whole. His 

1690 brother-in-law was closeted with the King. Bute, provoked 
by what he considered as the unfriendly and ungrateful con- 
duct of his successors, had himself proposed that Pitt should 
be summoned to the palace. 
Pitt had two audiences on two successive days. What 

1695 passed at the first interview led him to expect that the nego- 
tiation would be brought to a satisfactory close ; but on the 
morrow he found the King less complying. The best account, 
indeed the only trustworthy account, of the conference, is 
that which was taken from Pitt's own mouth by Lord Hard- 

i7oowicke. It appears that Pitt strongly represented the import- 
ance of conciliating those chiefs of the Whig party who had 
been so unhappy as to incur the royal displeasure. They had, 
he said, been the most constant friends of the House of Han- 
over. Their power was great ; they had been long versed in 

i 7 o 5 public business. If they were to be under sentence of exclu- 
sion, a solid administration could not be formed. His Majesty 
could not bear to think of putting himself into the bauds 
of those whom he had recently chased from his court with the 
strongest marks of anger. "I am sorry, Mr. Pitt." he said, 

I7 . "but I see this will not do. My honor is concerned. I must 



1685. Buckingham House. Tti St James' Park, tin* favorite residence 
of Qeorge 111 and the Queen. After 1775, called the"Queen'a House," 
being settled upon Queen Charlotte in lieu of Somerset House. 



WILLIAM PITT, EARL OF CHATHAM. 05 

support my honor." How his Majesty succeeded in support- 
ing his honor, we shall soon sec. 

Pitt retired, and the King was reduced to request the min- 
isters, whom he had been on the point of discarding, to re- 

l 7>5 main in office. During the two years which followed, Gren- 
ville, now closely leagued with the Bedfords, was the master 
of the court ; and a hard master he proved. He knew that 
he was kept in place only because there was no choice except 
between himself and the Whigs. That under any circum- 

1720 stances the Whigs would be forgiven, he thought impossible. 
The late attempt to get rid of him had roused his resentment ; 
the failure of that attempt had liberated him from all fear. 
He had never been very courtly. He now began to hold a 
language, to which, since the days of Cornet Joyce and 

1725 President Bradshaw, no English King had been compelled to 
listen. 

In one matter, indeed, Grenville, at the expense of justice 
and liberty, gratified the passions of the court while gratify- 
ing his own. The persecution of Wilkes was eagerly pressed. 

1730 He had written a parody on Pope's Essay on Ma?i, entitled 
the Essay on Woman, and had appended to it notes, in 
ridicule of Warburton's famous Commentary. This composi- 
tion was exceedingly profligate, but not more so, we think, 
than some of Pope's own works, the imitation of the second 

t735 satire of the first book of Horace, for example ; and, to do 
Wilkes justice, he had not, like Pope, given his ribaldry to the 
world. He had merely printed at a private press a very 
small number of copies, which he meant to present to some 
of his boon companions, whose morals were in no more dan- 

1740 ger of being corrupted by a loose book than a negro of being 
tanned by a warm sun. A tool of the government, by giving 
a bribe to the printer, procured a copy of this trash, and 

1724. Cornet Joyce.— Led the Agitators when they carried Charles I. 
from the Parliamentary Commissioners at Eolmby House in 1647. 

1725. President Bradshaw.— An eminent lawyer, president of the High 
Court of Justice by which Charles I. was tried. 

1730. Pope. Alexander Pope. 10HS-1744. — The celebrated poet and critic. 
1782. Warburton.— Edited Pope's works. 
1735. Horace, 05-8 B.C.— Roman poet. 



00 WILLIAM PITT, EARL OP CHATHAM. 

placed it in the hands of the ministers. The ministers re- 
solved to visit Wilkes's offence against decorum with the 

1745 utmost rigor of the law. What share piety and respect for 
morals had in dictating this resolution, our readers may judge 
from the fact that no person was more eager for bringing the 
libertine poet to punishment than Lord March, afterwards 
Duke of Queensberry. On the first day of the session of Par- 

i 75 oliament, the book, thus disgracefully obtained, was laid on the 
table of the Lords by the Karl of Sandwich, whom the Duke 
of Bedford's interest had made Secretary of State. The unfor- 
tunate author had not the slightest suspicion that his licentious 
poem had ever been seen, except by his printer and by a few 

1755 of his dissipated companions, till it was produced in full Par- 
liament. Though he was a man of easy temper, averse from 
danger, and not very susceptible of shame, the surprise, the 
disgrace, the prospect of utter ruin, put him beside himself. 
He picked a quarrel with one of Lord Bute's dependents, 

1760 fought a duel, was seriously wounded, and, when half reco- 
vered, fled to France. His enemies had now their own way 
both in the Parliament and in the King's Bench. He was 
censured, expelled from the House of Commons, outlawed. 
His works were ordered to be burned by the common hang- 

I7 6 5 man. Yet was the multitude still true to him. In the minds 
even of many moral and religious men, his crime seemed light 
when compared with the crime of his accusers. The conduct 
of Sandwich, in particular, excited universal disgust. His own 
vices were notorious ; and, only a fortnight before he laid 

, 77 othe Essay on \\'<>in<)t before the House of Lords, he had been 
drinking and singing loose catches with Wilkes at one of the 
most dissolute clubs in London. Shortly after the meeting of 
Parliament, the Beggar's opera was acted at Covent Garden 
theater. When Machcath uttered the words— " That Jemmy 

1775 Twitcher should peach me I own surprised me,' 1 — pit, boxes, 
and galleries burst into a roar which seemed likely to bring 

1748 r )i. L<»r<l March and Karl of Sandwich.— Men notorious for 
their rices. Sandwich had been intimate with Wilkes. 

1771. Macheath.— Captain Blacheath, a highwayman, who is the hero of 
Gay's " Beggar's Opera. 



WILLIAM PITT, KARL OP CHATHAM. 07 

the roof down. From thai day Sandwich was universally 
known by the nickuame of Jemmy Twitcher. The ceremony of 
burning the North Briton was interrupted by a riot. Thecon- 

1780 stables were beaten ; the paper was rescued ; and, instead of it, 
a jackboot and a petticoat were committed to the flames. 
Wilkes had instituted an action for the seizure of his papers 
against the Under-Secretary of State. The jury gave a thou- 
sand pounds damages. But neither these nor any other indi- 
es cations of public feeling had power to move Grenville. He had 
the Parliament with him ; and, according to his political creed, 
the sense of the nation was to be collected from the Parliament 
alone. 
Soon, however, lie found reason to fear that even the Par- 

i79oliament might fail him. On the question of the legality of 
general warrants, the Opposition, having on its side all sound 
principles, all constitutional authorities, and the voice of the 
whole nation, mustered in great force, and was joined by many 
who did not ordinarily vote against the government. On one 

'795 occasion the ministry, in a very full House, had a majority of 
only fourteen votes. The storm, however, blew over. The 
spirit of the Opposition, from whatever cause, began to flag at 
the moment when success seemed almost certain. The session 
ended without any change. Pitt, whose eloquence had shone 

1800 with its usual lustre in all the principal debates, and whose 

popularity was greater than ever, was still a private man. 

Grenville, detested alike by the court and by the people, was 

still minister. 

As soon as the Houses had risen, Grenville took a step 

[805 which proved, even more signally than any of his past acts, 
how despotic, how acrimonious, and how fearless his nature 
was. Among the gentlemen not ordinarily opposed to the 
government, who, on the great constitutional question of 
general warrants, had voted with the minority, was Henry 

t8io Conway, brother of the Earl of Hertford, a brave soldier, a 



1810. Henry Conway, 1720-1705.— When commander-in-chief of the 
army in 1782. he made the motion in the House of Commons to terminate 
hostilities against the United States. 



GS WILLIAM PITT, EARL OP CHATHAM. 

tolerable speaker, and a well-meaning, though not a wise or 
vigorous politician, lie was now deprived of his regiment, the 
merited reward of faithful and gallant service in two wars. 

It was confidently asserted that in this violent measure the 

1815 King heartily concurred. 

But whatever pleasure the persecution of Wilkes, or the dis- 
missal of Conway, may have given to the royal mind, it is cer- 
tain that his Majesty's aversion to his ministers increased day 
by day. Grenville was as frugal of the public money as of his 

1820 own, and morosely refused to accede to the King's request that 
a few thousand pounds might be expended in buying some open 
fields to the west of the gardens of Buckingham House. In 
consequence of this refusal the fields were soon covered with 
buildings, and the King and Queen were overlooked in their 

1825 most private walks by the upper windows of a hundred houses. 
Nor was this the worst. Grenville was as liberal of words as 
he was sparing of guineas. Instead of explaining himself in 
that clear, concise, and lively manner which alone could win 
the attention of a young mind new to business, he spoke in 

I 8 30 the closet just as he spoke in the House of Commons. When 
he had harangued two hours, he looked at his watch, as he had 
been in the habit of looking at the clock opposite the Speaker's 
chair, apologized for the length of his discourse, and then went 
on for an hour more. The members of the House of Commons 

l8 can cough an orator down, or can walk away to dinner ; and 
they weie by no means sparing in the use of these privileges 
when Grenville was on his legs. But the poor young King 
had to endure all this eloquence with mournful civility. To 
the end of his life he continued to talk with horror of (ireii- 

l840 ville's orations. 

About this time took place one of the most singular events 
in Pitt's life. There was a certain Sir William Pynsent, a 
Somersetshire baronet of Whig politics, who had been a mem- 
ber of the House of Commons in the days of Queen Anne, and 

l8 had retired to rural privacy when the Tory party, towards the 
end of her reign, obtained the ascendency in her councils. His 
manners were eccentric. His morals lay under very odious 



WILLIAM TITT, EARL OF CHATHAM. G9 

imputations. But his fidelity to his political opinions was 
unalterable. During fifty years of seclusion he continued to 

1850 brood over the circumstances which had driven him from pub- 
lic life, the dismissal of the Whigs, the Peace of Utrecht, the 
desertion of our .illies. He now thought that he perceived a 
close analogy between the well-remembered events of his youth 
and the events which he had witnessed in extreme old age; 

1S55 between the disgrace of Marlborough and the disgrace of Pitt; 
between the elevation of Harley and the elevation of Bute; 
between the treaty negotiated by tSt. John and the treaty nego- 
tiated by Bedford ; between the wrongs of the House of Austria 
in 1712 and the wrongs of the House of Brand enburgh in 17G2. 

i860 This fancy took such possession of the old man's mind that he 
determined to leave his whole property to Pitt. In this way 
Pitt unexpectedly came into possession of near three thousand 
pounds a year. Nor could all the malice of his enemies find 
any ground for reproach in the transaction. Nobody could 

i36 5 call him a legacy hunter. Nobody could accuse him of seizing 
that to which others had a better claim. For he had never in 
his life seen Sir William ; and Sir William had left no relation 
so near as to be entitled to form any expectations respecting 
the estate. 

1870 The fortunes of Pitt seemed to nourish ; but his health was 
worse than ever. We cannot find that, during the session 



1851. Dismissal of the Whigs.— In 1710 Queen Anne dismissed the 
Whig ministers and appointed a Tory ministry, with Harley and St. John at 
its head. 

IVace of Utrecht, 1713.— The Whig majority in the House of Lords 
was opposed to the treaty, and to secure a vote for the peace, Harley created 

twelve Tory peers. 

1852. Desertion of our allies. — During the war of the Spanish Succes- 
sion, by reason of secret negotiations for peace between Great Britain and 
France, England withdrew her troops from the allied army (Germany, Hol- 
land, and England), leaving it at the mercy of France. 

1855. Disgrace of Marlborough. John Churchill, Duke of Marlbor- 
ough, 1660-1722.— Next to Wellington, the ablest commander England can 
boast. ''He never beseiged a fortress which he did not take, or fought a 
battle which he did not win.' 1 He was the chief adviser of Anne until the 
latter part of her reign, when lie was disgraced by a dismissal of his com- 
mand. He was charged with dishonesty, and found guilty by a vote of the 
House of Commons. 

1858. Treaty negotiated by Bedford.— See line 1101. 
185S. Wrongs of House of Austria.— See note 1852. 

1859. Wrongs of the House €>f Brandenburg.— See note 728 and note 
827. Frederick the Great was trying to make Prussia the equal of Austria. 



70 WILLIAM PITT, KARL OF CHATHAM. 

which began in January, 1765, he once appeared in Parliament. 
He remained some months in profound retirement at Hayes, 

his favorite villa, scarcely moving except from his armchair 

1875 to his bed, and from his bed to his armchair, and often em- 
ploying his wife as his amanuensis in his most confidential cor- 
respondence. Some of his detractors whispered that his in- 
visibility was to be ascribed quite as much to affectation as to 
gout. In truth, his character, high and splendid ;is it was, 

1S80 wanted simplicity. With genius which did not need the aid of 
stage tricks, and with a spirit which should have been Earabove 
them, he had yet been, through life, in the habit of practising 
them. It was therefore now surmised that having acquired 
all the consideration which could be derived from eloquence 

1885 and from great services to the state, he had determined not to 
make himself cheap by often appearing in public, but, under 
the pretext of ill health, to surround himself with mystery, to 
emerge only at long intervals and on momentous occasions, and 
at other times to deliver his oracles only to a few favored 

1890 votaries who were suffered to make pilgrimages to his shrine. 
If such were his object, it w T as for a time fully attained. Never 
was the magic of his name so powerful, never was he regarded 
by his country with such superstitious veneration, as (hiring 
this year of silence and seclusion. 

1895 "While Pitt was thus absent from Parliament, (Jrenvillc pro- 
posed a measure destined to produce a great revolution, the 
effects of which will long be felt by the whole human race. 
* We speak of the act for imposing stamp duties on the North 
American colonies. The plan was eminently characteristic of 

^^its author. Every feature of the parent was found in the 
child. A timid statesman would have shrunk from a step of 
which Walpole, at a time when the colonic.^ were far less pow- 
erful, had said — "He who shall propose it will be a much 
bolder man than I." But the nature of Grenville was insensi- 

1905 ble to fear. A statesman of large views would have felt that 
to lay taxes at Westminster on New England and New York 

190G. At Westminster; i.e., In Parliament, 



WILLIAM PITT, KARL OF CHATHAM. 71 

was a course opposed, not indeed to the Letter of the Statute 
Book, or to any decision contained in the Term Reports, but 
to the principles of good government and to the spirit of the 

1910 constitution. A statesman of Large views would also have felt 
that ten times the estimated produce of the American stamps 
would have been dearly purchased by even a transient quarrel 
between the mother country and the colonies, lint Grenville 
knew of no spirit of the constitution distinct from the letter 

19*5 of the law, and of no national interests except those which are 
expressed by pounds, shillings, and pence. That his policy 
might give birth to deep discontents in all the provinces, from 
the shore of the Great Lakes to the Mexican sea ; that France 
and Spain might seize the opportunity of revenge ; that the 

1920 empire might be dismembered ; that the debt, that debt with 

the amount of which he perpetually reproached Pitt, might, 

in consequence of his own policy, be doubled ; these were 

possibilities which never occurred to that small, sharp mind. 

The Stamp Act will be remembered as long as the globe 

1925 lasts. But, at the time, it attracted much less notice in this 
country than another Act which is now almost utterly for- 
gotten. The King fell ill, and was thought to be in a danger- 
ous state. His complaint, w r e believe, was the same which, at 
a later period, repeatedly incapacitated him for the perform- 

1930 ance of his regal functions. The heir apparent was only two 
years old. It was clearly proper to make provision for the 
administration of the government in case of a minority. The 
discussions on this point brought the quarrel between the court 
and the ministry to a crisis. The King wished to be entrusted 

i 935 with the pow r er of naming a regent by will. The ministers 
feared, or affected to fear, that, if this power were conceded 
to him, he would name the Princess Mother, nay, possibly the 
Earl of Bute. They therefore insisted on introducing into 
the bill words confining the King's choice to the royal family. 

I94 o Having thus excluded Bute, they urged the King to let them, 

192G. Another Act.— The Regency Act passed in 1765. 
1987. The King fell ill.— The beginning of his insanity, which became 
incurable in 1S10. 

I'm Heir apparent.— Afterward George IV. 



72 WILLTAM PITT, EARL OF CHATHAM. 

in tliu most marked manner, exclude the Princess Dowager 
also. They assured him that the House of Commons would 
undoubtedly strike her name out, and by this threat they 
wrung from him a reluctant assent. In a few days it ap- 

1945 pcared that the representations by which they had induced tlio 
King to put this gross and public affront on his mother were 
unfounded. The friends of the Princess in the House of Com- 
mons moved that her name should be inserted. The ministers 
could not decently attack the parent of their master. They 

1950 hoped that the Opposition would come to their help, and put 
on them a force to which they would gladly have yielded. 
But the majority of the Opposition, though hating the Prii 
hated Grenville more, beheld his embarrassment with delight, 
and would do nothing to extricate him from it. The Princess's 

1955 name was accordingly placed in the list of persons qualified to 
hold the regency. 

The King's resentment was now at the height. The present 
evil seemed to him more intolerable than any other. Even the 
junta of Whig grandees could not treat him worse than he had 

j 6o been treated by his present ministers. In his distress he 
poured out his whole heart to his uncle, the Duke of Cumber- 
land. The Duke was not a man to be loved ; but he was emi- 
nently a man to be trusted. He had an intrepid temper, a 
strong understanding, and a high sense of honor and duty. 

19 6 5 As a general, he belonged to a remarkable class of captains, — 
captains, we mean, whose fate it has been to lose almost all 
the battles which they have fought, and yet to be reputed 
stout and skilful soldiers. Such captains were Coligni and 
William the Third. We might, perhaps, add Marshal Soult 
o to the list. The bravery of the Duke of Cumberland was such 
as distinguished him even among the princes of his brave 
house. The indifference with which he rode about amidst 
musket balls and cannon balls was not the highest proof of 



1950. The .Junta.— A group «>f Whigs, including Russell. Somers, Charles 
Montague ami others of note, during the time of William III. 

1968. Coligni, 1527(?)-iri78.— The leader of the Huguenots. 

1969. Marshal Soult, 1709-1851.— Oue of the most distinguished generals 
under Napoleon I. 



WILLIAM PITT, GAEL OF CHATHAM. 73 

his fortitude. Hopeless maladies, horrible surgical operations. 

1975 far from unmanning him, did not even discompose him. 
With courage, he had the virtues which are akin to courage. 
lie spoke the truth, was open in enmity and friendship, and 
upright in all his dealings. But his nature was hard; and 
what seemed to him justice was rarely tempered with mercy. 

1980 He was, therefore, during many years one of the most unpop- 
ular men in England. The severity with which he had treated 
the rebels after the battle of Culloden had gained for him the 
name of the Butcher. His attempts to introduce into the army 
of England, then in a most disorderly state, the rigorous disci- 

i 9 8 5 pline of Potsdam, had excited still stronger disgust. Nothing 
was too bad to be believed of him. Many honest people were 
so absurd as to fancy that, if he were left Regent during the 
minority of his nephews, there would be another smothering 
in the Tower. These feelings, hcwever, had passed away. 

199 oThe Dnke had been living, during some years, in retirement. 
The English, full of animosity against the Scots, now blamed 
his Royal Highness only for having left so many Camerons 
and Macphersons to be made gangers and cnst om-house officers. 
He was therefore, at present, a favorite with his countrymen, 

1995 and especially with the inhabitants of London. 

He had little reason to love the King, and had shown clear- 
ly, thongh not obtrusively, his dislike of the system which had 
lately been pursued. But he had high and almost romantic 
notions of the duty which, as a prince of the blood, he owed 

2 oooto the head of his house. He determined to extricate his 
nephew from bondage, and to effect a reconciliation between 
the Whig party and the throne, on terms honorable to both. 

In this mind he .set off for Hayes, and was admitted to Pitt's 
sick-room ; for Pitt would not leave his chamber, and would 

2005 not communicate with any messenger of inferior dignity. 
And now began a long series of errors on the part of the illus- 

1985. Discipline of Potsdam.— A reference to the strict military disci- 
pline maintained by Frederick the (ireat. 

1985. Smothering in the Tower.— When Richard III. came to the 
throne, lie placed his young nephews. Edward V.. and his brother, the Duke 
of York, in theTower. The hoys suddenly disappeared, murdered, as was 
alleged, by their uncle's order. 



74 W 1 1. I.I AM IMTT, KARL OF CHATHAM. 

trious statesman, errors which involved his country in diffi- 
culties and distresses more serious even than those from which 
his genius had formerly rescued her. His language was 

aoio haughty, unreasonable, almost unintelligible. The only thing 
which could be discerned through a cloud of vague and not 
very gracious phrases was that he would not at that moment 
take office. The truth, we believe, was this. Lord Temple, 
who was Pitt's evil genius, had just formed a new scheme of 

2015 polities. Hatred of Bute and of the Princess had, it should 
seem, taken entire possession of Temple's soul. He had quar- 
relled with his brother George, because George had been con- 
nected with Bute and the Princess. Now that George ap- 
peared to be the enemy of Bute and of the Princess, Temple 

2020 was eager to bring about a general family reconciliation. The 
three brothers, as Temple, Grenville, and Pitt were popularly 
called, might make a ministry without leaning for aid eith< r 
on Bute or on the Whig connection. With such views, Temple 
used all his influence to dissuade Pitt from acceding to the 

2025 propositions of the Duke of Cumberland. Pitt was not con- 
vinced. But Temple had an influence over him such as no 
other person had ever possessed. They were very old friends, 
very near relations. If Pitt's talents and fame had been use- 
ful to Temple, Temple's purse had formerly, in times of great 

2030 need, been useful to Pitt. They had never been parted in 
politics. Twice they had come into the cabinet together; 
twice they had left it together. Pitt could not bear to think 
of taking office without his chief ally. Yet he felt that he 
was doing wrong, that he was throwing away a great opportu- 

2035 nity of serving his country. The obscure and umonciliatorv 
style of the answers which he returned to the overtures of the 
Duke of Cumberland, may be ascribed to the embarrassment 
and vexation of a mind not at peace with itself. It is said 
that he mournfully exclaimed to Temple, 
o " Extinxti te meque, soror, populumque, patresque 

Sidonios, urbemque tuam " 

The prediction was but too just. 

2040. Extinxti, etc.— Virgil's ".findd," IV.. 



WILLIAM PITT, KARL OF CHATHAM. 75 

Finding Pitt impracticable, the Duke of Cumberland ;i<h ised 
the King to submit to necessity, and to keep Gren\ ille and the 

2045 Bedf ords. It was, indeed, not a time at which otliees could 
safely be left vacant. The unsettled state of the government 
had produced a general relaxation through all the depart- 
ments of the public service. Meetings which at another time 
would have been harmless now turned to riots, and rapidly 

2050 rose almost to the dignity of rebellions. The Bouses of Par- 
liament were blockaded by the Spitalfields weavers. Bedford 
House was assailed on all sides by a furious rabble, and was 
strongly garrisoned with horse and foot. Some people at- 
tributed these disturbances to the friends of Bute, and some 

2055 to the friends of Wilkes. But, whatever might be the cause, 
the effect was general insecurity. Under such circumstances 
the King had no choice. With bitter feelings of mortifica- 
tion, he informed the ministers that he meant to retain them. 
They answered by demanding from him a promise on his 

2060 royal word never more to consult Lord Bute. The promise 
was given. They then demanded something more. Lord 
Bute's brother, Mr. Mackenzie, held a lucrative office in Scot- 
land. Mr. Mackenzie must be dismissed. The King replied 
that the office had been given under very peculiar circum- 

2o6s stances, and that he had promised never to take it away while 
he lived. Grenville was obstinate ; and the King, with a very 
bad grace, yielded. 

The session of Parliament was over. The triumph of the 
ministers was complete. The King was almost as much a 

207O prisoner as Charles the First had been, when in the Isle of 
Wight. Such were the fruits of the policy which, oirly a few 
months before, was represented as having forever secured 
the throne against the dictation of insolent subjects. 



2051. Spitalfield's weavers. -Unemployed silk weavers. A bill passed 
by the Commons to impose as high duties on Italian silks as on those of 
France was rejected by the House of Lords. The Duke of Bedford spoke 
against it, and Bedford House, at the time referred to, could be defended 
only by soldiers. 

2070. Charles in the Isle of Wight.— In 1647 Charles I. escaped to the 
Isle of Wight, expecting to find sympathy and aid, but instead, found him- 
sell a prisoner. 



76 WILLIAM PITT, EARL OF CHATHAM. 

His Majesty's natural resentment showed itself in every look 
2 °75 and word. In his extremity he looked wistfully towards thai 
Whig connection, once the object of his dread and hatred. 
The Duke of Devonshire, who had been treated with such 
unjustifiable harshness, had lately died, and had been suc- 
ceeded by his son, who was si ill a boy. The King conde- 

ended toexpresshis regret for what had passed, and to in- 
vite the young Duke tocourt. The noble youth came, attended 
by his uncles, and was received with marked graciousness. 

This and many other symptoms of the same kind irritated 
the ministers. They had still in store for their sovereign an 

2085 insult which would have provoked his grandfather to kiek 
them out of the room. Grenville and Bedford demanded an 
audience of him, and read him a remonstrance of many pages, 
which they had drawn up with great care. His Majesty was 
accused of breaking his word, and of treating bis advisers with 

2090 gross unfairness. The Princess was mentioned in language 
by no means eulogistic. Hints were thrown out that Bute's 
head was in danger. The king was plainly told that he must 
not continue to show, as he had done, that he disliked the 
situation in which he was placed, that he must frown upon 

2095 the Opposition, that he must carry it fail' towards his minis- 
ters in public. He several times interrupted the reading, by 
declaring that he had ceased to hold any communication with 
Bute. But the ministers, disregarding his denial, went on ; 
and the King listened in silence, almost choked by rage. When 

2100 they ceased to read, he merely made a gesture expressive of 
his wish to be left alone. He afterwards owned that he 
thought he should have gone into a tit, 

Driven to despair, he again had recourse to the Duke of 
Cumberland ; and the Duke of Cumberland again had recourse 

2105 to Pitt. Pitt was really desirous to undertake the direction of 
affairs, .and owned, with many dutiful expressions, that the 
terms offered by the King were all that any subject could 
desire. But Temple was impracticable ; and Pitt, with great 
regret, declared that he could not, without the concurrence 

2tTO of his brother-in-law, undertake the administration. 



WILLIAM PITT, EARL OF CHATHAM. 77 

The Duke now saw only one way of delivering his nephew. 
An administration must be formed of the Whigs in opposition, 

without Pitt's help. The difficulties seemed almost insupera- 
ble. Death and desertion had grievously thinned the ranks 

»"5 of the party lately supreme in the state. Those among whom 
the Duke's ehoice lay might be divided into two classes, men 
too old for important offices, and men who had never been in 
any important office before. The cabinet must be composed 
of broken invalids of raw recruits. 

2120 This was an evil, yet not an unmixed evil. If the new Whig 
statesmen had little experience in business and debate, they 
were, on the other hand, pure from the taint of that political 
immorality which had deeply infected their predecessors. Long 
prosperity had corrupted that great party which had expelled 

2125 the Stuarts, limited the prerogatives of the Crown, and curbed 
the intolerance of the Hierarchy. Adversity had already pro- 
duced a salutary effect. On the day of the accession of George 
the Third, the ascendency of the Whig party terminated ; and 
on that day the purification of the Whig party began. The 

2130 rising chiefs of that party were men of a very different sort 
from Sandys and Winnington, from Sir William Yonge and 
Henry Fox. They were men worthy to have charged by the 
side of Hampden at Chalgrove, or to have exchanged the last 
embrace with Russell on the scaffold in Lincoln's Inn Fields. 

2i 35 They carried into politics the same high principles of virtue 
which regulated their private dealings, nor would they stoop 
to promote even the noblest and most salutary ends by means 
which honor and probity condemn. Such men were Lord 
John Cavendish, Sir George Savile, and others whom we hold 

2140 in honor as the second founders of the Whig party, as the re- 
storers of its pristine health and energy after half a century 
of degeneracy. 
The chief of this respectable band was the Marquis of 



2131. Sandys, Warrington, and Longe.— Ministers under Robert Wal- 

pole's administration, with low moral standard. 

2183. Hampden.-Sii' note 77. 

2134. Russell. Lord William Russell, 1639-1 683— Like Sidney, unjustly 
executed for suspected complicity in the Rye House plot. See note 98. 



78 WILLIAM PITT, EARL OF CHATHAM. 

Rockingham, a man of splendid fortune, excellent sense, and 

M4S stainless character, lie was indeed nervous to such a degree 
that, to the very close of his life, he never rose without great 
reluctance and embarrassment to address the House; of Lords. 
But, though not a great orator, he had in a high degree some 
of the qualities of a statesman. He chose his friends well; 

2150 and he had, in an extraordinary degree, the art of attaching 
them to him by ties of the most honorable kind. The cheerful 
fidelity with which they adhered to him through many years 
of almost hopeless opposition was less admirable than the dis- 
interestedness and delicacy which they showed when he rose 

2155 to power. 

"We are inclined to think that the use and the abuse of party 
cannot be better illustrated than by a parallel between two 
powerful connections of that time, the Iiockinghanis and the 
Bedfords. The Rockingham party was, in our view, exactly 

2160 what a party should be. It consisted of men bound together 
by common opinions, by common public objects, by mutual 
esteem. That they desired to obtain, by honest and constitu- 
tional means, the direction of affairs they openly avowed. 
But, though often invited to accept the honors and emolu- 

2165 ments of office, they steadily refused to do so on any condi- 
tions inconsistent with their principles. The Bedford party, 
as a party, had, as far as we can discover, no principles what- 
ever. Rigby and Sandwich wanted public money, and thought 
that they should fetch a higher price jointly than singly. 

2170 They therefore acted in concert, and prevailed on a much 
more important and a much better man than themselves to 
act with them. 

It was to Rockingham that the Duke of Cumberland now had 
recourse. The Marquis consented to take the treasury. New- 

2I75 castle, so long the recognized chief of the Whigs, could not well 
beexcluded from the ministry, lie was appointed keeper of 
theprivyseal. A very honest clear-headed country gentleman, 
of the name of Dowdeswell, became Chancellor of the Exche- 



8144. Rfarqui» of Rockingham, 1730-1782, 



WILLIAM PITT, KARL OF CHATHAM. 79 

quer. General Conway, who had served under the Duke of 

»i8o Cumberland, and was stongly attached to his royal highness, 
was made Secretary of State, with the lead in the House of Com- 
mons. A great Whig nobleman, in the prime of manhood, 
from whom much was at that time expected, Augustus Duke of 
Grafton, was the other Secretary. 

2185 The oldest man living could remember no government so 
weak in oratorical talents and in official experience. The gen- 
eral opinion was, that the ministers might hold office during 
the recess, but that the first day of debate in Parliament would 
be the last day of their power. Charles Townshend was asked 

2igo what he thought of the new administration. " It is," said he, 
" mere lutestring ; pretty summer wear. It will never do for 
the winter.' ■ 

At this conjuncture Lord Rockingham had the wisdom to 
discern the value, and secure the aid, of an ally, who, to elo- 

2I95 quence surpassing the eloquence of Pitt, and to industry which 
shamed the industry of Grenville, united an amplitude of 
comprehension to which neither Pitt nor Grenville could lay 
claim. A young Irishman had, sometime before, come over to 
push his fortune in London. He had written much for the 

2200 booksellers ; but he was best known by a little treatise, in 
which the style and reasoning of Bolingbroke were mimicked 
with exquisite skill, and by a theory, of more ingenuity than 
soundness, touching the pleasures which we receive from the 
objects of taste. He had also attained a high reputation as a 

2205 talker, and was regarded by the men of letters who supped to- 
gether at the Turk's Head as the only match in conversation for 
Dr. Johnson. He now became private secretary to Lord Rock- 
ingham, and was brought into Parliament by his patron's influ- 
ence. These arrangements, indeed, were not made without 

2210 some difficulty. The Duke of Newcastle, who was always med- 
dling and chattering, adjured the first lord of the treasury to 

2179. General Conway.— See rote 1810. 

2191. Lutestring administration.— Pitt said, "I cannot give tliem my 
confidence. Pardon ine, gentlemen (bowing to the ministry), confidence is 
a plant of slow growth in an aged bosom; youth is the season of credulity." 

2206. Turk's Head — A famous coffee-house in the Strand, a favorite 
resort of Dr. Johnson, Boswell, Goldsmith, and other literary men, 



£0 Mil. MAM PITT, EARL OF CHATHAM. 

be on his guard againsl this adventurer, whose real name was 
O'Bourke, and whom his grace knew to be a wild irishman, a 
Jacobite, a Papist, a concealed -Jesuit. Lord Rockingham 

23I5 treated the calumny as it deserved ; and the Whig party was 
strengthened and adorned by the accession of Edmund Burke. 
The party, indeed, stood in need of accessions; for it sus- 
tained about this time an almost irreparable loss. The Duke 
of Cumberland had formed the government, and was its main 

2220 support. His exalted rank and great name in some degree bal- 
anced the fame of Pitt. As mediator between the Whigs and 
the Court, he held a place which no other person could fill. 
The strength of his character supplied thai which was the chief 
defect of the new ministry. Conway, in particular, who, with 

a225 excellent intentions and respectable talents, was the most de- 
pendent and irresolute of human beings, drew from the coun- 
sels of that masculine mind a determination not his own. Be- 
fore the meeting of Parliament the Duke suddenly died. His 
death was generally regarded as the signal of great troubles, 

2230 and on this account, as well as from respect for his personal 

Qualities, was greatly lamented. It was remarked that the 

mourning in London was the most general ever known, and 

was both deeper and longer than the Gazette had prescribed. 

In the mean time, every mail from America brought alarm- 

2235 ing tidings. The crop which Grenville had sown, his successors 
had now to reap. The colonies were in a slate bordering on 
rebellion. The stamps were burned. The revenue officers were 
tarred and feathered. All traffic between the discontented 
provinces and the mother country was interrupted. The Ex- 

224 oChangeof London was in dismay. Half the firms of Bristol 
and Liverpool were threatened with bankruptcy. In Leeds, 
Manchester, Nottingham, it was said that three artisans out of 
every ten had been turned adrift. Civil war seemed to be at 
hand; and it could not be doubted that, if once the British 

2 , 45 nation were divided against itself, France and Spain would soon 
take part in the quarrel. 

2840. Exchange of London.— The great financial centre. The first 
building was erected in the sixteenth century. 



WILLTAM PITT, EARL OP CHATHAM. 81 

Three courses were open to the ministers. The first was to 
enforce the Stamp Act by the sword. This was the course on 
which the King, and Grenvillc, whom the King hated beyond 

^250 all living men, were alike bent. The natures of both w r ere 
arbitrary and stubborn. They resembled each other so much 
that they could never be friends ; but they resembled each 
other also so much that they saw almost all important practi- 
cal questions in the same point of view. Neither of them 

2255 would bear to be governed by the other ; but they were per- 
fectly agreed as to the best way of governing the people. 

Another course was that which Pitt recommended. He held 
that the British Parliament was not constitutionally compe- 
tent to pass a law for taxing the colonies. He therefore con- 

22 6o sidered the Stamp Act as a nullity, as a document of no more 
validity than Charles's writ of ship-money, or James's procla- 
mation dispensing with the penal laws. This doctrine seems 
to us, w r e must own, to be altogether untenable. 
Between these extreme courses lay a third way. The opin- 

2265 ion of the most judicious and temperate statesmen of those 
times was that the British constitution had set no limit whatever 
to the legislative power of the British King, Lords, and Com- 
mons, over the whole British Empire. Parliament, they held, 
was legally competent to tax America, as Parliament was le- 

2270 gaily competent to commit any other act of folly or wicked- 
ness, to confiscate the property of all the merchants in Lom- 
bard Street, or to attaint any man in the kingdom of high trea- 
son without examining witnesses against him or hearing him 
in his own defense. The most atrocious act of confiscation or 

2275 of attainder is just as valid an act as the Toleration Act or the 
Habeas Corpus Act. But from acts of confiscation and acts 
of attainder law givers are bound, by every obligation of 
morality, systematically to refrain. In the same manner ought 
the British legislature to refrain from taxing the American 

2202. Penal laws. — Laws enacted against Roman Catholics. These laws 
were relaxed in 1004 by James I. to prevent a Catholic rising. 

2275. Toleration Act. — By which freedom of religious belief was granted. 
The first act of this kind known in English histury, was passed in 1689, 
during the reign of William III. -X 



82 WILLIAM PITT, EARL OF CHATHAM. 

2280 colonies. The Stump Act was indefensible, not because it was 
beyond the constitutional competence of Parliament, but be- 
cause it was unjust and impolitic, sterile of revenue, and fertile 
of discontents. These sound doctrines were adopted by Lord 
Rockingham and his colleagues, and were, during a long 

2285 course of years, inculcated by Burke in orations, some of 
which will last as long as the English language. 

The winter came; the Parliament met ; and the state of 
the colonies instantly became the subject of fierce contention. 
Pitt, whose health had been somewhat restored by the waters 

2290 of Bath, reappeared in the House of Commons, and, with ar- 
dent and pathetic eloquence, not only condemned the Stamp 
Act, but applauded the resistance of Massachusetts and Vir- 
ginia, and vehemently maintained, in defiance, we must say, 
of all reason and of all authority, that, according to the Brit- 

2295 ish constitution, the supreme legislative power does not include 
the power to tax. The language of Grenville, on the other 
hand, was such as Strafford might have used at the council 
table of Charles the First, when news came of the resistance 
to the liturgy at Edinburgh. The colonists were traitors ; those 

2300 who excused them were little better. Frigates, mortars, bayo- 
nets, sabers, were the proper remedies for such distempers. 

The ministers occupied an intermediate position ; they pro- 
posed to declare that the legislative 1 authority of the British 
Parliament over the whole Empire was in all cases supreme ; 

2305 and they proposed, at the same time, to repeal the Stamp Act. 
To the former measure Pitt objected ; but it was carried with 
scarcely a dissentient voice. The repeal of the Stamp Act 
Pitt strongly supported ; but against the Government was 

22S9. Waters of Bath.— Bath is celebrated for its hot springs, ami is 
called the handsomest city of England. 

2291. Condemned the stamp A<-t.— As minister. Pitt had rejected a 
similar scheme tor taxing the colonies. During this debate he said. "In 
my opinion this kingdom lias no right to lay a tax on the colonies. . . . 
America is obstinate! America is almost in open rehellion! Sir. I rejoice 
that America has resisted. Three millions of people so dead to all the feel- 
ings of liberty as voluntarily to submit to be slaves would have been tit in- 
struments to make slaves of ihe rest." 

8299. Liturgy <>f Edinburgh. In 168.1 Charles I. tried to force upon 
Scotland a Book of Canons, and a new Liturgy, based upon the English 
Book of Com tn on Prayer, which superseded the Knox Liturgy, and practi- 
cally abolished the Presbyterian system. 



WILLIAM TITT, EARL OF CHATHAM. 83 

arrayed a formidable assemblage of opponents. Grenville 

»3xoand i1k! Bed fords were furious. Temple, who had now allied 
himself closely with his brother, and separated himself from 
Pitt, was no despicable enemy. This, however, was not the 
worst. The ministry was without its natural strength. It had 
to struggle, not only against its avowed enemies, but against 

2315 the insidious hostility of the King, and of a, set of persons who, 

about this time, began to be designated as the King's friends. 

The character of this faction has been drawn by Burke with 

even more than his usual force and vivacity. Those who 

know how strongly, through his whole life, his judgment was 

2320 biased by his passions, may not unnaturally suspect that he 

has left us rather a caricature than a likeness ; and yet there 

is scarcely, in the whole portrait, a single touch of which the 

fidelity is not proved by facts of unquestionable authenticity. 

The public generally regarded the King's friends as a body 

2 3 2 5 of which Bute was the directing soul. It was to no purpose 
that the Earl professed to have done with politics, that he 
absented himself year after year from the levee and the draw- 
ing-room, that he went to the north, that he went to Rome. 
The notion that, in some inexplicable manner, he dictated all 

2330 the measures of the court, was fixed in the minds, not only of 
the multitude, but of some who had good opportunities of 
obtaining information, and who ought to have been superior 
to vulgar prejudices. Our own belief is that these suspicions 
were unfounded, and that he ceased to have any communica- 

2335 tion with the King on political matters some time before the 
dismissal of George Grenville. The supposition of Bute's influ- 
ence is, indeed, by no means necessary to explain the phenom- 
ena. The King, in 1765, was no longer the ignorant and in- 
experienced boy who had, in 1760, been managed by his 

2340 mother and his Groom of the Stole. He had, during several 
years, observed the struggles of parties, and conferred daily 
on high questions of state with able and experienced politi- 
cians. His way of life had developed his understanding and 
character. He was now no longer a puppet, but had very de- 

2345cided opinions both of men and things. Nothing could be 



8-1 WILLIAM PITT, EARL OF CHATHAM. 

more natural than that lie should have high notions of his own 
prerogatives, should be impatient of opposition, and should 
wish all public men to be detached from each other and depend- 
ent on himself alone ; nor could anything be more natural 

2350 than that, in the state in which the political world then was, 
he should find instruments fit for his purposes. 

Thus sprang into existence and into note a reptile species of 
politicians never before and never since known in our country. 
These men disclaimed all political ties, except those which 

2355 bound them to the throne. They were willing to coalesce with 
any party, to abandon any party, to undermine any party, to 
assault any party, at a moment's notice. To them, all admin- 
istrations and all oppositions were the same. They regarded 
Bute, Grenville, Rockingham, Pitt, without one sentiment 

2360 either of predilection or of aversion. They were the King's 
friends. It is to be observed that this friendship implied no 
personal intimacy. These people had never lived with their 
master as Dodington at one time lived with his father, or as 
Sheridan afterwards lived with his son. They never hunted 

2365 with him in the morning, or played cards with him in the even- 
ing, never shared his mutton or walked with him among his 
turnips. Only one or two of them ever saw T his face, except' 
on public days. The whole band, however, always had early 
and accurate information as to his personal inclinations. These 

2370 people were never high in the administration. They were 
generally to be found in places of much emolument, little la- 
bor, and no responsibility ; and these places they continued 
to occupy securely while the cabinet was six or seven times 
reconstructed. Their peculiar business was not to support the 

2375 ministry against the opposition, but to support the King against 
the ministry. Whenever his Majesty was induced to give a 
reluctant assent to the introduction of some bill which his con- 
stitutional advisers regarded as necessary, his friends in the 
House of Commons were sure to speak against it, to vote 

2380 against it, to throw in its way every obstruction compatible 

23G4. Sheridan. Richard Brinsley Butler Sheridan, 1761-1816.— The au- 
thor of •• The Rivals" ami " The School for Scandal," was a boon companion 
of the Prince Regent, afterward George IV. 



WILLIAM PITT, EARL OF CHATHAM. 85 

with the forms of Parliament. If his Majesty found it neces- 
sary to admit into his closet a Secretary of State or a First 
Lord of the Treasury whom he disliked, his friends were sure 
to miss no opportunity of thwarting and humbling the obnox- 

2385 ious minister. In return for these services, the King covered 
them with his protection. It was to no purpose that His 
responsible servants complained to him that they were daily 
betrayed and impeded by men who were eating the bread of 
the government. He sometimes justified the offenders, some- 

2 39 o times excused them, sometimes owned that they were to blame, 
but said that he must take time to consider whether he could 
part with them. He never would turn them out ; and, while 
every thing else in the state was constantly changing, these 
sycophants seemed to have a life estate in their offices. 

2395 It was well known to the King's friends that, though his 
Majesty had consented to the repeal of the Stamp Act, he had 
consented with a very bad grace, and that though he had eag- 
erly welcomed the Whigs, when, in his extreme need and at 
his earnest entreaty, they had undertaken to free him from an 

2400 insupportable yoke, he had by no means got over his early 
prejudices against his deliverers. The ministers soon found 
that, while they were encountered in front by the whole force 
of a strong opposition, their rear was assailed by a large body 
of those whom they had regarded as auxiliaries. 

2405 Nevertheless, Lord Rockingham and his adherents went on 
resolutely with the bill for repealing the Stamp Act. They 
had on their sides all the manufacturing and commercial in- 
terests of the realm. In the debates the government was pow- 
erfully supported. Two great orators and statesmen, belonging 

2410 to two different generations, repeatedly put forth all their 
powers in defence of the bill. The House of Commons heard 
Pitt for the last time, and Burke for the first time, and was in 
doubt to which of them the palm of eloquence should be as- 
signed. It was indeed a splendid sunset and a splendid dawn. 

2415 For a time the event seemed doubtful. In several divisions 
the ministers were hard pressed. On one occasion, not less 
than twelve of the King's friends, all men in ollice, voted 



86 WILLIAM TITT, KARL OF CHATHAM 

against the government. Tt was to no purpose thai Lord 
Rockingham remonstrated with the King. His Majesty con- 

242ofessed that there was ground for complaint, but hoped thai 
gentle means would bring the mutineers to a better mind. If 
they persisted in their misconduct, he would dismiss them. 

At length the decisive day arrived. The gallery, the lobby, 
the Court of Requests, the staircases, were crowded with mer- 

2425 chants from all the great ports of the island. The debate 
lasted till long after midnight. On the division the ministers 
had a great majority. The dread of civil war, and the outcry 
of all the trading towns of the kingdom, had been too strong 
for the combined strength of the court and the opposition. 

2430 It was in the first dim twilight of a February morning that 
the doors were thrown open, and that the chiefs of the hos- 
tile parties showed themselves to the multitude. Conway was 
received with loud applause. But, when Pitt appeared, all 
eyes were fixed on him alone. . All hats were in the air. Loud 

2435 and long huzzas accompanied him to his chair, and a train of 
admirers escorted him all the way to his home. Then came 
forth Grenville. As soon as he was recognized, a storm of 
hisses and curses broke forth. He turned fiercely on the 
crowd, and caught one man by the throat. The bystanders 

2440 were in great alarm. If a scuffle began, none could say how 

it might end. Fortunately the person who had been collared 

only said, " If I may not hiss, sir, I hope I may laugh," and 

laughed in Grenvi lie's face. 

The majority had been so decisive, that all the opponents of 

2445 the ministry, save one, were disposed to let the bill pass with- 
out any further contention. But solicitation and expostula- 
tion were thrown away on Grenville. His indomitable spirit 
rose up stronger and stronger under the load of public hatred. 
He fought out the battle obstinately to the end. On the last 

2450 reading he had a sharp altercation with his brother-in-law, the 
last of their many sharp altercations. Pitt thundered in his 
loftiest tones against the man who had wished to dip tho 

8494, Court of Requests.— A court for the recovery of small debts. 
" Court of Conscience. " 



WILLIAM PITT, EARL OF CHATHAM 87 

ermine of a British King in the blood of the British people. 
Grenville replied with his wonted intrepidity and asperity. 

2 45.s '« [f the tax," he said, kt were still to be laid on, I would lay it, 
on. For the evils which it may produce, my accuser is an- 
swerable. His prof usion made it necessary. His declarations 
against the constitutional powers of Kings, Lords, and Com- 
mons have made it doubly necessary. I do not envy him the 

2460 huzza. I glory in the hiss. If it were to be done again, 1 
would do it." 

The repeal of the Stamp Act was the chief measure of Lord 
Rockingham's government. But that government is entitled 
to the praise of having to put a stop to two oppressive prac- 

2465 tiees, which, in Wilkes's case, had attracted the notice and 
excited the just indignation of the public. The House of Com- 
mons was induced by the ministers to pass a resolution con- 
demning the use of general warrants, and another resolution 
condemning the seizure of papers in cases of libel. 

2470 It must be added, to the lasting honor of Lord Rocking- 
ham, that his administration was the first which, during a long 
course of years, had the courage and the virtue to refrain from 
bribing members of Parliament. His enemies accused him 
and his friends of weakness, of haughtiness, of party spirit ; 

2 475 but calumny itself never dared to couple his name with cor- 
ruption. 

Unhappily his government, though one of the best that has 
ever existed in our country, was also one of the weakest. The 
King's friends assailed and obstructed the ministers at every 

248oturn. To appeal to the King was only to draw forth new 
promises and new evasions. His Majesty was sure that there 
must be some misunderstanding. Lord Rockingham had 
better speak to the gentlemen. They should be dismissed on 
the next fault. The next fault was soon committed, and His 

8485 Majesty still continued to shuffle. It was too bad. It was 
quite abominable ; but it mattered less as the prorogation was 
at hand. He would give the delinquents one more chance. If 
they did not alter their conduct next session, he should not 
have one word to say for them. He had already resolved 



88 WILLIAM PITT, "KARL OF CHATHAM. 

2490 that, Long before the commencement of the next session, Lord 
Rockingham should cease to be minister. 

We have now come to a part of our story which, admiring 
as we do the genius and the many noble qualities of Pitt, we 
cannot relate without much pain. We believe that, at this 

2495 conjuncture, he had it in his power to give the victory either 
to the Whigs or to the King's friends. If he had allied him- 
self closely with Lord Rockingham, what could the court have 
done? There would have been only one alternative, the 
Whigs or Grenville ; and there could be no doubt what the 

2500 King's choice would be. He still remembered, as well he 
might, with the uttermost bitterness, the thralldom from 
which his uncle had freed him, and said about this time, with 
great vehemence, that he would sooner see the Devil come 
into his closet than Grenville. 

2505 And what was there to prevent Pitt from allying himself 
with Lord Rockingham ? On all the most important questions 
their views were the same. They had agreed in condemning 
the peace, the Stamp Act, the general warrant, the seizure of 
papers. The points on which they differed were few and 1111- 

25IO important. In integrity, in disinterestedness, in hatred of 
corruption, they resembled each other. Their personal inter- 
ests could not clash. They sat in different Houses, and Pitt 
had always declared that nothing should induce him to be 
first lord of the treasury. 

2515 If the opportunity of forming a coalition beneficial to the 
state, and honorable to all concerned, was suffered to escape, 
the fault was not with the Whig ministers. They behaved 
towards Pitt with an obsequiousness which, had it not been 
the effect of sincere admiration and of anxiety for the public 

2520 interests, might have been justly called servile. They re- 
peatedly gave him to understand that, if he chose to join their 
ranks, they were ready to receive him, not as an associate, but 
as a leader. They had proved their respect for him by be- 
stowing a peerage on the person who, at thai time, enjoyed 

2525 the largest share of his confidence, Ohief Justice Pratt. What, 
then, was there to divide Pitt from the Whigs ? What, on the 



WILLIAM PITT, EARL OF CHATHAM. 89 

other band, was there in common between him and the King's 
friends, that he should lend himself to their purposes, he who 
had never owed any thing to flattery or intrigue, he whose 

2530 eloquence and independent spirit had overawed two genera- 
tions of slaves and jobbers, he who had twice been forced 
by the enthusiasm of an admiring nation on a reluctant 
Prince ? 

Unhappily the court had gained Pitt, not, it is true, by those 

2535 ignoble means which were employed when such men as Rigby 
and Wedderburn were to be won, but by allurements suited to 
a nature noble even in its aberrations. The King set himself 
to seduce the one man who could turn the Whigs out without 
letting Grenville in. Praise, caresses, promises, were lavished 

2540 on the idol of the nation. He, and he alone, could put an end 
to faction, could bid defiance to all the powerful connections 
in the land united, Whigs and Tories, Rockinghams, Bedfords, 
and Grenvilles. These blandishments produced a great effect. 
For though Pitt's spirit was high and manly, though his elo- 

2545 quence was often exerted with formidable effect against the 
court, and though his theory of government had been learned 
in the school of Locke and Sydney, he had always regarded 
the person of the sovereign with profound veneration. As 
soon as he was brought face to face with royalty, his imagina- 

2550 tion and sensibility were too strong for his principles. His 
Whiggism thawed and disappeared ; and he became, for the 
time, a Tory of the old Ormond pattern. Nor was he by any 
means unwilling to assist in the work of dissolving all political 
connections. His own weight in the state was wholly inde- 

2555 pendent of such connections. He was therefore inclined to 
look on them with dislike, and made far too little distinction 
between gangs of knaves associated for the mere purpose of 
robbing the public, and confederacies of honorable men for 
the promotion of great public objects. Nor had he the sagac- 

2560 ity to perceive that the strenuous efforts which he made to 

2536. Wedderburn. — When Wedderburn died, George III. said, "He has 
not left a greater knave behind him in my dominions. 1 ' 

2552. Ormond. Duke of Ormond, 1610-1688.— A firm adherent to tbe 
Stewart cause during the Civil War and the Commonwealth. 



90 WILLIAM PITT, EARL OF CHATHAM. 

annihilate all parties tended only to establish the ascendency 
of one party, and that the basest and most hateful of all. 

It may be doubted whether he would have been thus misled, 
if his mind had been in full health and vigor, lint the truth 

25 r, s is that he had for some time been in ;m unnatural state of 
excitement. No suspicion of this sort had yel gol abroad. 
His eloquence had never shone with more splendor than dur- 
ing the recent debates. But people afterwards called to mind 
many things which ought to have roused their apprehensions. 

2570 His habits were gradually becoming more and more eccentric. 
A horror of all loud sounds, such as is said to have been one 
of the many oddities of Wallenstein, grew upon him. Though 
the most affectionate of fathers, he could not at this time bear 
to hear the voices of his own children, and laid out great sums 

2575 at Hayes in buying up houses contiguous to his own, merely 
that he might have no neighbors to disturb him with their 
noise. He then sold Hayes, and took possession of a villa at 
Hampstead, where he again began to purchase houses to right 
and left. In expense, indeed, he vied, during this part of his 

2580 life, with the wealthiest of the conquerors of Bengal and Tan- 
jore. At Burton Pynsent, he ordered a great extent of ground 
to be planted with cedars. Cedars enough for the purpose 
were not to be found in Somersetshire. They were therefore 
collected in London, and sent down by Land carriage. Belays 

2585 of laborers were hired: and the work went on all night by 
torchlight. No man could be more abstemious than Pitt ; yet 
the profusion of his kitchen was a wonder even to epicures. 
Several dinners were always dressing; for his appetite was 
capricious and fanciful ; and at whatever moment he felt 

2590 inclined to eat, he expected a meal to be instantly on the table. 
Other circumstances might be mentioned, such as separately 
are of little moment, but such as, when taken together, and 
when viewed in connection with the strange events which fol- 
lowed, justify us in believing that his mind was already in a 

2595 morbid state. 

5. Wallenstein.— A celebrated German general <>f the Imperial army 
in the Thirty Years 1 War. 
8580. Conquerors of Bengal.— See Macaulay's "Lord Clive." 



WILLIAM TITT, EARL OF CHATHAM. 91 

Soon .after the close of the session of Parliament, Lord Rock- 
ingham received his dismissal. He retired, accompanied by a 
firm body of friends, whose consistency and uprightness enmity 
itself was forced to admit. Noneof them had asked or obtained 

2600 all y pension or any sinecure, either in possession or in rever- 
sion. Such disinterestedness was then rare among politicians. 
Their chief, though not a man of brilliant talents, had won for 
himself an honorable fame, which he kept pure to the last. 
He had, in spite of difficulties which seemed almost ins it r- 

2605 mountable, removed great abuses and averted a civil war. 
Sixteen years later, in a dark and terrible day, he was again 
called upon to save the state, brought to the very brink of ruin 
by the same perfidy and obstinacy which had embarrassed, and 
at length overthrown, his first administration. 

2610 Pitt was planting in Somersetshire when he was summoned 
to court by a letter written by the royal hand, lie instantly 
hastened to London. The irritability of his mind and body 
were increased by the rapidity with which he travelled ; and 
when he reached his journey's end he was suffering from fever. 

2615 111 as he was, he saw the King at Richmond, and undertook to 
form an administration. 

Pitt was scarcely in the state in which a man should be who 
has to conduct delicate and arduous negot iations. In his letters 
to his wife, he complained that the conferences in which it was 

2620 neccessary for him to bear a part heated his blood and acceler- 
ated his pulse. From other sources of information we learn 
that his language, even to those whose co-operation he wished 
to engage, was strangely peremptory and despotic. Some of 
his notes written at this time have been preserved, and are in 

2625 a style which Lewis the Fourteenth would have been too well 
bred to employ in addressing any French gentleman. 

In the attempt to dissolve all parties, Pitt met with some 
difficulties. Some Whigs, whom the court would gladly have 
detached from Lord Rockingham, rejected all offers. TheBed- 

2^30 fords were perfectly willing to break with (irenville; but Pitt 

2615. Richmond.— The seat of a royal palace ten miles from Loudon. 



92 WILLIAM PITT, EARL OP CHATHAM. 

would not come up to their terms. Temple, whom Pitt at first 
meant to place at the head of the treasury, proved intractable. 

A coldness indeed had, during sonic months, been fast growing 
between the brothers-in-law, so long and so closely allied in 

2635 politics. Pitt was angry with Temple for opposing the repeal 
of the Stamp Act. Temple was angry with Pitt for refusing 
to accede to that family league which was now the favorite 
plan at Stowe. At length the Earl proposed an equal partition 
of power and patronage, and offered, on this condition, to give 

2640 up his brother George. Pitt thought the demand exorbitant, 
and positively refused compliance. A bitter quarrel followed. 
Each of the kinsmen was true to his character. Temple's soul 
festered with spite, and Pitt's swelled into contempt. Temple 
represented Pitt as the most odious of hypocrites and traitors. 

2645 Pitt held a different and perhaps a more provoking tone. 
Temple was a good sort of man enough, whose single title to 
distinction was, that he had a large garden with a large piece 
of water and a great many pavilions and summer-houses. To 
his fortunate connection with a great orator and statesman he 

2650 was indebted for an importance in the state which his own 
talents could never have gained for him. That importance 
had turned his head. He had begun to fancy that he could 
form administrations, and govern empires. It was piteous to 
see a well-meaning man under such a delusion. 

2655 In spite of all these difficulties a ministry was made such as 
the King wished to see, a ministry in which all his Majesty's 
friends were comfortably accommodated, and which, with the 
exception of his Majesty's friends, contained no four person's 
who had ever in their lives been in the habit of acting together. 

2060 Men who had never concurred in a single vote found themselves 
seated at the same board. The office of paymaster was divided 
between two persons who had never exchanged a word. Most 
of the chief posts were tilled either by personal adherents of 
Pitt, or by members of the late ministry, who had been induced 

3665 to remain in place after the dismissal of Lord Rockingham. 
To the former class belonged Pratt, now Lord Camden, who 



WILLIAM TTTT, 32ARL OF CHATHAM. 93 

accepted the great seal, and Lord Shelburne, who was made 
one of the Secretaries of State. To i In* latter class belonged 
the Duke <>!' Grafton, who became First Lord of the Treasury. 

2670 and Conway, who kept his old position both in the government 
and in the House of Commons. Charles Townshend, who bad 
belonged to every party and cared for none, was Chancellor of 
the Exchequer. Pitt himself was declared prime minister, but 
refused to take any laborious office. He was created Karl of 

2675 Chatham, and the privy seal was delivered to him. 

It is scarcely necessary to say that the failure, the complete 
and disgraceful failure, of this arrangement, is not to be as- 
cribed to any want of capacity in the persons whom we have 
named. None of them was deficient in abilities ; and four of 

2680 them, Pitt himself, Shelburne, Camden, and Townshend, were 
men of high intellectual eminence. The fault was not in the 
materials, but in the principle on which the materials were put 
together. Pitt had mixed up these conflicting elements, in the 
full confidence that he should be able to keep them all in per- 

2685 feet subordination to himself, and in perfect harmony with 
each other. We shall soon see how the experiment succeeded. 
On the very day on which the new prime minister kissed 
hands, three fourths of that popularity which he had long en- 
joyed without a rival, and to which he owed the greater part 

2690 of his authority, departed from him. A violent outcry was 
raised, not against that part of his conduct which really de- 
served severe condemnation, but against a step in which we can 
see nothing to censure. His acceptance of a peerage produced 
a general burst of indignation. Yet surely no peerage had ever 

2695 been better earned ; nor was there ever a statesman who more 
needed the repose of the Upper House. Pitt was now growing 
old. He was much older in constitution than in years. It 
was with imminent risk to his life that he had, on some im- 



2667. !Lord Shelburne. Marquis of Lansdowne, 1737-1805.— Prime Min- 
ister in 1782, with Pitt as Chancellor of the Exchequer. 

2688 Kissed hands. -When lie takes office, the prime minister kisses 
the hands of the sovereign. 

26!)0. Popularity departed.-" He has had a .full upstairs" wrote Lord 
Chesterfield, "and he will never be able to stand on his legs again." 



94 WILLIAM PITT, EARL OF CHATHAM. 

portaut occasions, attended his duty in Parliament. During 

2700 the session of 1764 he had not been able to take part in a 
single debate. It was impossible that he should go through 
the nightly labor of conducting the business of the govern- 
ment in the House of Commons. His wish to be transferred, 
under such circumstances, to a less busy and a less turbulent 

2705 assembly, was natural and reasonable. The nation, however, 
overlooked all these considerations. Those who had most loved 
and honored the great Commoner were loudest in invective 
against the new-made Lord. London had hitherto been true 
to him through every vicissitude. When the citizens learned 

2710 that he had been sent for from Somersetshire, thai he had been 
closeted with the King at Richmond, and thai he was to be 
first minister, they had been in transports of joy. Preparations 
were made for a grand entertainment and for a general illumi- 
nation. The lamps had actually been placed round the Monu- 

2715 ment when the Gazette announced that the object of all this 
enthusiasm was an Earl. Instantly the feast was counter- 
manded. The lamps were taken down. The newspapers 
raised the roar of obloquy. Pamphlets, made up of calumny 
and scurrillity, filled the shops of all the booksellers ; and of 

2720 those pamphlets, the most galling were written under the 
direction of the malignant Temple. It was now the fashion to 
compare the two Williams, William Pulteney and William Pitt. 
Both, it was said, had, by eloquence and simulated patriotism, 
acquired a great ascendency in the House of Commons and in 

2725 the country. Both had been entrusted with the office of re- 
forming the government. Both had, when at the height of 
power and popularity, been seduced by the splendor of the 
coronet. Both had been made earls, and both had at once 
become objects of aversion and scorn to the nation which a few 

2730 hours before had regarded them with affection and veneration. 

2714. The Monument.— Erected to commemorate the great Are of 1666. 
The height of the column (302 feet) is said to equal its distance from the 
house in Pudding Lane in which the tin- broke out. 

2723. William Pulteney. Earl of Bath, 1682 1764.— The leader of the 
14 Patriots," a group of Whigs who were opposed to Walpole's control in 
reign of George I. When Pitt entered Parliament, he attached himself to 
this faction. 



WILLIAM PITT, EARL OF CHATHAM. 05 

The clamor against Pitt appears to have had a serious effeel 

on tin' foreign relations of the country. His name had till 
now acted like a spell at Versailles and Saint [ldefonso. Eng- 
lish travellers on the Continent had remarked that nothing 

2735 more was necessary to silence a whole room full of boasting 
Frenchmen than to drop a hint of the probability that Mr. 
Pitt would return to power. In an instant there was deep 
silence ; all shoulders rose, and all faces were lengthened. 
Now, unhappily, every foreign court, in learning that he was 

2740 recalled to office, learned also that he no longer possessed the 
hearts of his countrymen. Ceasing to be loved at home, he 
ceased to be feared abroad. The name of Pitt had been a 
charmed name. Our envoys tried in vain to conjure with the 
name of Chatham. 

2745 The difficulties which beset Chatham were daily increased 
by the despotic manner in which he treated all around him. 
Lord Rockingham had, at the time of the change of ministry, 
acted with great moderation, had expressed a hope that the 
new government would act on the principles of the late govern- 

2750 ment, and had even interfered to prevent many of his friends 
from quitting office. Thus Saunders and Keppel, two naval 
commanders of great eminence, had been induced to remain 
at the Admiralty, where their services were much needed. 
The Duke of Portland was still Lord Chamberlain, and Lord 

2755 Besborough Postmaster. But within a quarter of a year Lord 
Chatham had so deeply affronted these men that they all 
retired in disgust. In truth, his tone, submissive in the 
closet, was at. this time insupportafcly tyrannical in the cabi- 
net. His colleagues were merely his clerks for naval, finan- 

2760 cial, and diplomatic business. Conway, meek as he was, was 
on one occasion provoked into declaring that such language 
as Lord Chatham's had never been heard west of Constanti- 
nople, and was with difficulty prevented by Horace Walpole 

2733. Versailles.— The royal palace of the French sovereigns after 
Louis XIV. 
2733. St. Ildefonso.— A royal palace in Spain, near Madrid. 
8768. Horace Walpole, 1717-1797. The youngest son of Sir Robert 

Walpole. A brilliant and witty man of letters. Macaulay says »>f him, "He 



96 WILLIAM PITT, EARL OP CHATHAM. 

from resigning, and rejoining the standard of Lord Iiock- 

2765 ingham. 

The breach \vliich bad been made in the government by the 
defection of so many of the Rockinghams, Chatham hoped to 
supply by the help of the Bedfords. But with the Bedfords 
he could not deal as he had dealt with oilier parties. It was 

2770 to no purpose that he bade high for one or two members of the 
faction, in the hope of detaching them from the rest. They 
were to be had ; but they were to be had only in the lot. 
There was indeed for a moment some wavering and some dis- 
puting among them. But at length the counsels of the shrewd 

2775 and resolute Rigby prevailed. They determined to stand 
firmly together, and plainly intimated to Chatham that he must 
take them all, or that he should get none of them. The event 
proved that they were wiser in their generation than any other 
connection in the state. In a few months they were able to 

2780 dictate their own terms. 

The most important public measure of Lord Chatham's 
administration was his celebrated interference with the corn 
trade. The harvest had been bad ; the price of food was high ; 
and he thought it necessary to take on himself the responsi- 

2785 bility of laying an embargo on the exportation of grain. When 
Parliament meet, this proceeding was attacked by the opposi- 
tion as unconstitutional, and defended by the ministers as in- 
dispensably necessary. At last an act was passed to indem- 
nify all who had been concerned in the embargo. 

2 79 o The first words uttered by Chatham in the House of Lords 
were in defence of his conduct on this occasion. lie spoke with 
a calmness, sobriety, and dignity, well suited to the audience 
which he was addressing. A subsequent speech which he made 
on the same subject was less successful, lie bade defiance to 

2795 aristocratical connections, with a superciliousness to which the 
Peers were not accustomed, and with tones and gesture's better 
suited to a large and stormy assembly than to the body of 
which he was now a member. A short altercation followed, 

was the most eccentric, the most artificial, the most fastidious, the most 
capricious <>f men." 






EARL OF CHATHAM. 07 

2800 and he was told very plainly that he should not be suffered to 
browbeat the old nobility of England. 

It gradually became clearer and clearer that he was in a 
distempered state of mind. His attention had been drawn to 
the territorial acquisitions of the East India Company, and 

2805 he determined to bring the whole of that great subject before 
Parliament. He would not, however, confer on the subject 
with any of his colleagues. It was in vain that Conway, who 
was charged with the conduct of business in the House of 
Commons, and Charles Townshend, who was responsible for 

2S10 the direction of the finances, begged for some glimpse of light 
as to what was in contemplation. Chatham's answers were 
sullen and mysterious. He must decline any discussion with 
them ; he did not want their assistance ; he had fixed on a 
person to take charge of his measure in the House of Com- 

2815 mons. This person w T as a member who was not connected with 
the government, and who neither had, nor deserved to have, the 
ear of the House, a noisy, purseproud, illiterate demagogue, 
whose Cockney English and scraps of mispronounced Latin 
were the jest of the newspapers, Alderman Beckford. It may 

2820 we ]j b e supposed that these strange proceedings produced a 
ferment through the wdiole political world. The city was in 
commotion. The East India Company invoked the faith of 
charters. Burke thundered against the ministers. The minis- 
ters looked at each other, and knew not what to say. In the 

2825 midst of the confusion, Lord Chatham proclaimed himself 
gouty, and retired to Bath. It w r as announced, after some 
time, that he was better, that he would shortly return, that he 
would soon put everything in order. A day was fixed for his 
arrival in London. But when he reached the Castle inn at 

2830 Marlborough, he stopped, shut himself up in his room, and 
remained there some weeks. Everybody who travelled that 
road w r as amazed by the number of his attendants. Footmen 
and grooms, dressed in his family livery, filled the whole inn, 
though one of the largest in England, and swarmed in the 

2804.' East India Company. — S«*e Macaulay's "Lord dive." In V,Hi 
the younger Pitt's East India Bill was finally passed, by which the affairs of 
the company were placed under control of Parliament. 



98 WILLIAM TITT, EARL OF CHATHAM. 

2835 streets of the little town. The truth was, that the invalid had 
insisted that, during his stay, all the waiters and stable-boys 
of the Castle should wear his livery. 

Iiis colleagues were in despair. The Duke of Grafton pro- 
posed to go down to Marlborough in order to consult the 

2S 4 ooracle. But he was informed that Lord Chatham must decline 
all conversation on business. In the mean time, nil the parties 
which were out of office, Bedfon Is, Grenvilles, and Rocking- 
hains, joined to oppose the distracted government on the vote 
for the land tax. They were reinforced by almost all the 

2845 county members, and had a considerable majority. This was 
the tirsttime that a ministry had been beaten on an important 
division in the House of Commons since the fall of Sir Robert 
"Walpolc. The administration, thus furiously assailed from 
without, was torn by internal dissensions. It had been formed 

z8soon no principle whatever. From the very first, nothing but 
Chatham's authority had prevented the hostile contingents 
which made up his ranks from going to blows with each other. 
That authority was now withdrawn, and every thing was in 
commotion. Conway, a brave soldier, but in civil affairs the 

2855 most timid and irresolute of men, afraid of disobliging the 
King, afraid of being abused in the newspapers, afraid of be- 
ing thought factious if he went out, afraid of being known to 
be afraid of anything, was beaten backwards and forwards 
like a shuttlecock between Horace Walpole who wished to 

2860 make him prime minister, and John Cavendish who wished 
to draw him into opposition. Charles Townshend, a man of 
splendid eloquence, of lax principles, and of boundless vanity 
and presumption, would submit to no control. The full ex- 
tent of his parts, of his ambition, and of his arrogance, had 

2865 not yet been made manifest; for he had always quailed before 
the genius and the lofty character of Pitt. But now that Pitt 
had quitted the House of Commons, and seemed to have ab- 
dicated the part of chief minister, Townshend broke loose 
from all restraint. 

2870 While things were in this state, Chatham at length returned 
to London. He might as well have remained at Marlborough. 



WILLIAM PITT, BABL OF CHATHAM. 00 

lie would see nobody. He would give no opinion on any 
public matter. The Duke of Grafton begged piteonsly for an 
interview, for an hour, for half an hour, for five minutes. 
2875 The answer was, that it was impossible. The King himself re- 
peatedly condescended to expostulate and implore. "Your 
duty," he wrote, "your own honor, require you to make an 
effort." The answers to these appeals were commonly written 
in Lady Chatham's hand, from her lord's dictation ; for he had 

2880 not energy even to use a pen. He flings himself at the King's 
feet. He is penetrated by the royal goodness, so signally 
shown to the most unhappy of men. He implores a little more 
indulgence. He cannot as yet transact business. He cannot 
see his colleagues. Least of all can he bear the excitement of 

288 5 an interview with majesty. 

Some were half inclined to suspect that he was, to use a 
military phrase, malingering. He had made, they said, a 
great blunder, and had found it out. His immense popularity, 
his high reputation for statesmanship, were gone for ever. 

2890 Intoxicated by pride, he had undertaken a task beyond his 
abilities. He now saw nothing before him but distresses and 
humiliations ; and he had therefore simulated illness, in order 
to escape from vexations which he had not fortitude to meet. 
This suspicion, though it derived some color from that weak- 

2895 ncss which was the most striking blemish of his character, was 
certainly unfounded. His mind, before he became first min- 
ister, had been, as we have said, in an unsound state ; and 
physical and moral causes now concurred to make the de- 
rangement of his faculties complete. The gout, which had 

2900 been the torment of his whole life, had been suppressed by 
strong remedies. For the first time since he was a boy at 
Oxford, he had passed several months without a twinge. But 
his hand and foot had been relieved at the expense of his 
nerves. He became melancholy, fanciful, irritable. The em- 

2yo S barrassing state of public affairs, the grave responsibility 
which lay on him, the consciousness of his errors, the disputes 



2887. Malingering.— See dictionary. 



100 WILLIAM TITT, KARL OF CHATHAM. 

of his colleagues, the savage clamors raised by his detractors, 
bewildered his enfeebled mind. One thing alone, he said, 
could save him. lie must repurchase Hayes. The unwilling 

2910 consent of the new occupant was extorted by Lady Chatham's 
entreaties and tears ; and her lord was somewhat easier. But 
if business were mentioned to him, he, once the proudest and 
boldest of mankind, behaved like a hysterical girl, trembled 
from head to foot, and burst into a tlood of tears. 

2915 His colleagues for a time continued to entertain the expecta- 
tion that his health would soon be restored, and that he would 
emerge from his retirement. But month followed month, and 
still he remained hidden in mysterious seclusion, and sunk, as 
far as they could learn, in the deepest dejection of spirits. 

2920 They at length ceased to hope or to fear anything from him ; 
and though he was still nominally Prime Minister, took with- 
out scruple steps which they knew to be diametrically opposed 
to all his opinions and feelings, allied themselves with those 
whom he had proscribed, disgraced those whom he most es- 

2925 teemed, and laid taxes on the colonies, in the face of the 
strong declarations which he had recently made. 

"When he had passed about a year and three quarters in 
gloomy privacy, the King received a few lines in Lady Chat- 
ham's hand. They contained a request, dictated by her lord, 

2930 that he might be permitted to resign the Privy Seal. After 

some civil show of reluctance, the resignation was accepted. 

Indeed Chatham was, by this time, almost as much forgotten 

as if he had already been lying in Westminster Abbey. 

At length the clouds which had gathered over his mind 

2935 broke and passed away. His gout returned, and freed him 
from a more cruel malady. His nerves were newly braced. 
His spirits became buoyant. He woke as from a sickly dream. 
It was a strange recovery. Men had been in the habit of 
talking of him as of one dead, and, when he first showed him- 

2940 self at the King's levee, started as if they had seen a ghost. 
It was more than two years and a half since he had appeared 
in public. 

2925. Laid taxes.— The tax on tea an J a few other articles in 1767. 



WILLIAM PITT, EARL of CHATHAM. 101 

He, too, had cause for wonder. The world which he now- 
entered was not the world which he had quitted. The admin- 

8 9*5 istration which he had formed had never been, al anyone 
moment, entirely changed. But there had been so many 
losses and so many accessions, that he could scarcely recognize 
his own work. Charles Townshend was dead. Lord 8hel- 
burne had been dismissed. Conway had sunk into utter in- 

2950 significance. The Duke of Grafton had fallen into the hands 
of the Bedfords. The Bedfords had deserted Grenville, had 
made their peace with the King and the King's friends, and 
had been admitted to office. Lord North was Chancellor of 
the Exchequer, and was rising fast in importance. Corsica 

a ^55 had been given up to France without a struggle. The disputes 
with the American colonies had been revived. A general 
election had taken place. Wilkes had returned from exile, 
and, outlaw as he was, had been chosen knight of the shire 
for Middlesex. The multitude was on his side. The Court 

296° was obstinately bent on raining him, and was prepared to 
shake the very foundations of the constitution for the sake of 
a paltry revenge. The House of Commons, assuming to itself 
an authority which of right belongs only to the whole legisla- 
ture, had declared Wilkes incapable of sitting in Parliament. 

2965 Nor had it been thought sufficient to keep him out. Another 
must be brought in. Since the freeholders of Middlesex had 
obstinately refused to choose a member acceptable to the 
Court, the House had chosen a member for them. This was 
not the only instance, perhaps not the most disgraceful in- 

2970 stance, of the inveterate malignity of the Court. Exasperated 
by the steady opposition of the Rockingham party, the King's 
friends had tried to rob a distinguished Whig nobleman of his 
private estate, and had persisted in their mean wickedness till 
their own servile majority had revolted from mere disgust and 

2953. Lord North. 1733-1792.— Prime Minister during the Revolutionary 
War. 

2958. Knisrlit of the Shire.— A knight chosen by the free-holders to 
represent the county in Parliament. 

2968. House had chosen, etc.— The court candidate, Luttrell. Wilkrs 
was returned four times before he was finally allowed to take his seat, in 
1774. 



102 WILLIAM PITT, EARL OF CHATHAM. 

»975 shame. Discontent Lad spread throughout the nation, and 
was kept up by stimulants such as had rarely beea applied to 
the public mind. Junius had taken the field, had trampled 
Sir William Draper in the dust, had well nigh broken the 
heart of Blackstone, and had so mangled the reputation of 

1980 the Duke of Grafton, that his grace had become sick of* (.nice, 
and was beginning to look wistfully towards the shades of 
Euston. Every principle of foreign, domestic, and colonial 
policy which was dear to the heart of Chatham had, during 
the eclipse of his genius, been violated by the government 

2985 which he had formed. 

The remaining years of his life were spent in vainly strug- 
gling against that fatal policy which, at the moment when he 
might have given it a death blow, he had been induced to take 
under his protection. His exertions redeemed his own lame, 

2990 but they effected little for his country. 

He found -two parties arrayed against the government, the 
party of his own brothers-in-law, the Grenvilles, and the 
party of Lord Rockingham. On the question of the Middlesex 
election these parties were agreed. But on many other iin- 

2995portant questions they differed widely; and they were, in 
truth, not less hostile to each other than to the Court. The 
Grenvilles had, during several years, annoyed the Rockinghams 
with a succession of acrimonious pamphlets. It was long be- 
fore the Rockinghams could be induced to retaliate. But an 

3000 ill-natured tract, written under Grenville's direction, and en- 
titled a Stab; of the Nation, was too much for their patience. 
Burke undertook to defend and avenge his friends, and exe- 
cuted the task with admirable skill and vigor. On every 



2977. Junius.— An anonymous journalist who attacked the ministry in 
a series of remarkable letters, published in the "Public Advertiser"from i7t5'j- 
17C2. By their clear, terse»statements. finished style, and rigorous invective, 
these letters gave a new power to the literature of the press, ami established 
its right "to criticise the conduct, not of ministers or Parliament only, but of 
the sovereign himself." They were probably written by sir Philip Francis, 
but the writer says, " 1 am the sole depository of my secret, and it shall die 
with me." 

2979, Blackstone. Dr. Blackstone, 1728-1780.— Author of the celebrated 
" Commentaries on the Laws of England." 

2998. Middlesex Election.— See line and note 29C8. 



WILLIAM PITT, HAUL OF CHATHAM. 103 

point ho was victorious, and nowhere more completely victori- 

3°°5ous than when he joined issue on those <\vy and minute ques- 
tions of statistical and financial detail in which the main 
strength of Grenville lay. The official drudge, even on his 
own chosen ground, was utterly unable to maintain the fight 
against the great orator and philosopher. When Chatham 

3 oio reappeared, Grenville was still writhing with the recent shame 
and smart of this well-merited chastisement. Cordial co- 
operation between the two sections of the Opposition was im 
possible. Nor could Chatham easily connect himself with 
either. His feelings, in spite of many affronts given and re- 

3 OI 5ceived, drew him towards the Grenvilles. For he had strong 
domestic affections ; and his nature, which, though haughty, 
was by no means obdurate, had been softened by affliction. 
But from his kinsmen he was separated by a wide difference 
of opinion on the question of colonial taxation. A reconcilia- 

3020 tion, however, took place. He visited Stowe ; he shook 
hands with George Grenville ; and the Whig freeholders of 
Buckinghamshire, at their public dinners, drank many 
bumpers to the union of the three brothers. 

In opinions, Chatham was much nearer to the Rockinghams 

3° 2 5 than to his own relatives. But between him and the Rocking- 
hams there wasagulf not easily to be passed. He had deeply 
injured them, and in injuring them, had deeply injured his 
country. When the balance was trembling between them and 
the Court, he had thrown the whole weight of his genius, of 

3030 his renown, of his popularity, into the scale of misgovernment. 
It must be added, that many eminent members of the party 
still retained a bitter recollection of the asperity and disdain 
with which they had been treated by him at the time when he 
assumed the direction of affairs. It is clear from Burke's 

3035 pamphlets and speeches, and still more clear from his private 
letters, and from the language which he held in conversation, 
that he regarded Chatham with a feeling not far removed 
from dislike. Chatham was undoubtedly conscious of his 
error, and desirous to atone for it. But his overtures oJ 

3040 friendship, though made with earnestness, and even with un- 



104 WILLIAM PITT, EARL OF CHATHAM. 

wonted humility, were-at first received by Lord Rockingham 
with cold and austere reserve. Gradually the intercourse of 

the two statesmen became courteous and even amicable. But 
the past was never wholly forgotten. 

3045 Chatham did not, however, stand alone. Bound him gath- 
ered a party, small in number, but strong in great and vari- 
ous talents. Lord Camden, Lord Shelburne, Colonel Bane 
and Dunning, afterwards Lord Ashburton, were the principal 
members of this connection. 

3 o 5 o There is no reason to believe that, from this time till within 
a few weeks of Chatham's death, his intellect suffered any 
decay. His eloquence was almost to the last heard with de- 
light. But it was not exactly the eloquence of the House of 
Lords. That lofty and passionate, but somewhat desultory 

3055 declamation, in which he excelled all men, and which was set 
off by looks, tones, and gestures, worthy of Garrick or Talma, 
was out of place in a small apartment where the audience 
often consisted of three or four drowsy prelates, three or 
four old judges, accustomed during many years to disregard 

3060 rhetoric, and to look only at facts and arguments, and three 
or four listless and supercilious men of fashion, whom any 
thing like enthusiasm moved to a sneer. In the House of 
Commons, a flash of his eye, a wave of his arm, had some- 
times cowed Murray. But, in the House of Peers, his utmost 

3065 vehemence and pathos produced less effect than the modera- 
tion, the reasonableness, the luminous order, and the serene 
dignity, which characterized the speeches of Lord Mansfield. 

On the question of the Middlesex election, all the three 
divisions of the Opposition acted in concert. No orator in 

3°7° either House defended what is now 7 universally admitted to 
have been the constitutional cause with more ardor or elo- 

30-47. Col. Barre. Col. Isaac Barre\ 172G-1792.— A British officer under 
Wolfe. A distinguished debater, aud an advocate of American inde- 
pendence. 

8048. Dunning. John Dunning.— In 1780 he brought up he memorable 
resolution, "That the influence of the crown has increased, is increasing, 
and oughl to be diminished." 

8056 Garrick, 1710-1779.— A famous English actor; a friend and pupil 
of l>r. Johnson. 

8056. Talina.- 1753-1826. A celebrated French tragedian. 



WILLIAM PITT, EABL OF CHATHAM. 105 

• 

quence than Chatham. Before this subject had ceased to 
occupy the public mind, George Grenville died. Bis party 
rapidly melted away ; and in a short time most of his adher- 
es cuts appeared on the ministerial benches. 

Had George Grenville lived many months longer, the 
friendly ties which, after years of estrangemenl and hostility, 
had been renewed between him and his brother-in-law, would, 
in all probability, have been a second time violently dissolved. 

^oSoFor now the quarrel between England and the North American 
colonies took a gloomy and terrible aspect. Oppression pro- 
voked resistance; resistance was made the pretext for fresh 
oppression. The warnings of all the greatest statesmen of 
the age were lost on an imperious court and a deluded nation. 

3085 Soon a colonial senate confronted the British Parliament. 
Then the colonial militia crossed bayonets with the British 
regiments. At length the commonwealth was torn asunder. 
Two millions of Englishmen, who, fifteen years before, had 
been as loyal to their prince and as proud of their country as 

3090 the people of Kent or Yorkshire, separated themselves by a 
solemn act from the Empire. For a time it seemed that the 
insurgents would struggle to small purpose against the vast 
financial and military means of the mother country. But 
disasters, following one another in rapid succession, rapidly 

3095 dispelled the illusions of national vanity. At length a great 
British force, exhausted, famished, harassed on every side by 
a hostile peasantry, was compelled to deliver up its arms. 
Those governments which England had, in the late war so 
signally humbled, and which had during many years been 

3100 sullenly brooding over the recollections of Quebec, of Minden, 
and of the Moro, now saw with exultation that the day of 
revenge was at hand. France recognized the independence 
of the United States ; and there could be little doubt that the 
example would soon be followed by Spain. 

3097. Deliver up its arms.— General Burgoyne surrendered at Sara- 
toga, Oct. 13. 1777. 

3100. Minden.— The battle of Minden was won from the French by Ferd- 
inand of Brunswick in command of the allies! English and Hanoverians). 

3101. Moro.— A fort at the entrance to the harbor of Havana. 

3104. By Spain.— Spain did not recognize the independence of the United 



106 WILLIAM PITT, KARL OF CHATHAM. 

3!°s Chatham and Rockingham had cordially concurred in op- 
posing every part of the fatal policy which had brought the 
state into this dangerous situation. But their paths now- 
diverged. Lord Rockingham thought, and, as the event 
proved, thought most justly, that the revolted colonies were 

3 1 to separated from the Empire forever, and that the only effect 
of prolonging the war on the American continent would be 
to divide resources which it was desirable to concentrate. If 
the hopeless attempt to subjugate Pennsylvania and Virginia 
were abandoned, war against the House of Bourbon might 

3"5 possibly be avoided, or if inevitable, might be carried on 
with success and glory. We might even indemnify ourselves 
for part of what we had lost, at the expense of those foreign 
enemies who had hoped to profit by our domestic dissensions. 
Lord Rockingham, therefore, and those who acted with him, 

3120 conceived that the wisest course now open to England was to 
acknowledge the independence of the United States, and to 
turn her whole force against her European enemies. 

Chatham, it should seem, ought to have taken the same 
side. Before France had taken any part in our quarrel with 

3 i2 s the colonies, he had repeatedly, and with great energy of Ian. 
guage, declared that it was impossible to conquer America, 
and he could not without absurdity maintain that it was easier 
to conquer France and America together than America alone. 
But his passions overpowered his judgment, and made him 

3130 blind to his own inconsistency. The very circumstances which 
made the separation of the colonies inevitable made it to him 
altogether insupportable. The dismemberment of the Empire 
seemed to him less ruinous and humiliating, when produced 
by domestic dissensions, that when produced by foreign inter- 

3135 ferenee. His blood boiled at the degradation of his country. 
Whatever lowered her among the nations of the earth, he felt 

States, but secretly aided with money. In 1779 she joined France against 
England in the European War. 
8126. Impossible to conquer America.— Just before Burgoyne's 

surrender, when men were glorying in Howe's successes, Pit1 cried, "You 
cannot conquer America. If 1 were an American as I am an Englishman, 
while a foreign troop was landed in my country 1 never would lay down 
my arms— never, never, never! 11 



WILLIAM PITT, EARL OF CHATnAM. L07 

as a personal outrage to "himself. And the feeling was natural. 

lie had made her so great. He had hern BO proud of her and 

she had been so proud of him. He remembered how, more 

3140 than twenty years before, in a day of gloom and dismay 

when her possessions were torn from her, when her flag was 
dishonored, she had called on him to save her. lie remem- 
bered the sudden and glorious change which his energy had 
wrought, the long series of triumphs, the days of thanks- 
3145 giving, the nights of illumination. Fired by such recollec- 
tions, he determined to separate himself from those who 
advised that the independence of the colonies should be 
acknowledged. That he was in error will scarcely, we think, 
be disputed by his warmest admirers. Indeed, the treaty, by 
3150 which, a few years later, the republic of the United States was 
recognized, was the work of his most attached adherents and 
of his favorite Son. 

The Duke of Richmond had given notice of an address to 
the throne, against the further prosecution of hostilities with 
3 i 55 America. Chatham had, during some time, absented himself 
from Parliament, in consequence of his growing infirmities. 
He determined to appear in his place on this occasion, and to 
declare that his opinions were decidedly at variance with 
those of the Rockingham party. He was in a state of great 
3160 excitement. His medical attendants w r ere uneasy, and strongly 
advised him to calm himself, and to remain at home. But he 
was not to be controlled. His son William, and his son-in- 
law- Lord Mahon, accompanied him to Westminster. He rest 1 < 1 
himself in the Chancellor's room till the debate commenced, 
3165 and then, leaning on his two young relations, limited to his 
seat. The slightest particulars of that day were remembered, 
and have been carefully recorded. He bowed, it was re- 
marked, with great courtliness to those peers who rose to 

3140. Twenty years before. — Sep page 

315ii. His favorite son. William' Pitt, 17T.9-1806. — The great English 
Prime Minister during the last part of the eighteenth century. At twenty- 
five, "he was Master of England as no Minister had been before." See 
Macaulay's " Essay on the younger Pitt. 1 ' 

'3153. Duke of Richmond. Charles Lennox, 1786-1806.— A graudson of 
a natural son of Charles II. A strong friend of liberty. 



108 WILLIAM PITT, EARL <>F CHATHAM. 

make way for him and his supporters. His crutch was in his 

3170 hand. He wore, as was his fashion, a rich velvet coat. His 
legs were swathed in llannel. His wig was so large, and his 
face so emaciated, that none of his features could be dis- 
cerned, except the high curve of his nose, and his eyes, which 
still retained a gleam of the old fire. 

3175 When the Duke of Richmond had spoken, Chatham rose. 
For some time his voice was mandible. At length his tones 
became distinct and his action animated. Here and there his 
hearers caught a thought or an expression which reminded 
them of William Pitt. But it was clear that he was not him- 

3180 self. He lost the thread of his discourse, hesitated, repeated 
the same words several times, and was so confused that, in 
speaking of the Act of Settlement, he could not recall the 
name of the Electress Sophia. The House listened in solemn 
silence, and with the aspect of profound respect and com- 

3185 passion. The stillness was so deep that the dropping of a 
handkerchief would have been heard. The Dnkc of Rich- 
mond replied with great tenderness and courtesy; but while 
hespoke, the old man was observed to be restless and irritable. 
The Duke sat down. Chatham stood up again, pressed his 

3190 hand on his breast, and sank down in an apoplectic tit. Three 
or four lords who sat near him caught him in his fall. The 
House broke up in confusion. The dying man was carried to 
the residence of one of the officers of Parliament, and was SO 
far restored as to be able to bear a journey to Hayes. At 

3I95 Hayes, after lingering a few weeks, he expired in his seven- 
tieth year. His bed was watched to the last, with anxious 
tenderness, by bis wife and children; and he well deserved 
their care. Too often haughty and wayward toothers, to them 
he had been almost effeminately kind. He had through life 

32 oobeen dreaded by his political opponents, and regarded with 
more awe than love even by his political associates. But no 
fear seems to have mingled with the affection which his fond- 
ness, constantly overflowing in a thousand endearing forms, 
had inspired in the little circle a1 Hayes. 

, 205 Chatham, at the time of his decease, had not, in both Houses 



WILLIAM PITT, KARL OF CHATHAM. L09 

of Parliament, ten personal adherents. Half the public men 
of the age had been estranged from him by Ids errors, and the 
other half by the exertions whieh he had made to repair his 
errors. His last speech had been an attack at once on the 

3210 policy pursued by i he government, and on the policy recom- 
mended by the opposition. But death restored him to his 
old place in the affection of his country. Who could hear un- 
moved of the fall of that which had been so great, and which 
had stood so long? The circumstances, too, seemed rather to 

3215 belong to the tragic stage than to real life. A great states- 
man, full of years and honors, led forth to the Senate House 
by a son of rare hopes, and stricken down in full council while 
straining his feeble voice to renew the drooping spirits of his 
country, could not but be remembered with peculiar venera- 

3220 tion and tenderness. The few detractors who ventured to 
murmur were silenced by the indignant clamors of a nation 
which remembered only the lofty genius, the unsullied pro- 
bity, the undisputed services, of him who was no more. For 
once, the chiefs of all parties were agreed. A public funeral, 

3225 a public monument, were eagerly voted. The debts of the 
deceased were paid. A provision was made for his family. 
The City of London requested that the remains of the great 
man whom she had so long loved and honored might rest 
under the dome of her magnificent cathedral. But the petition 

3230 came too late. Every thing was already prepared for the 
interment in Westminster Abbey. 

Though men of all parties had concurred in decreeing post- 
humous honors to Chatham, his corpse was attended to the 
grave almost exclusively by opponents of the government. 

3 2 35The banner of the lordship of Chatham was borne by Colonel 
Barre, attended by the Duke of Richmond and Lord Rocking- 
ham. Burke, Savile, and Dunning upheld the pall. Lord 
Camden was conspicuous in the procession. The chief mourner 
was young William Pitt. After the lapse of more than twenty- 

3240 seven years, in a season as dark and perilous, his own shat- 

3240. Season as dark and perilous.— Pitt died at the height of Na- 
poleon's successes, soon after the battle of Austerlitz. Wilberforce wrote, 
"Austerlitz killed Pitt." 



110 WILLIAM PITT, KARL OF CHATHAM. 

tered frame and broken heart were laid, with the same pomp, 
in the same consecrated mould. 

Chatham sleeps near the northern door of the Chnrch, in a 
spot which has ever since been appropriated to statesmen, as 

3«45the other end of the same transepl has long been to poet* 
Mansfield rests there, and the second William Pitt, and Fox, 
and Grattan, and Canning, and Wilberforce. In no other 
cemetery do so many great citizens lie within so narrow a 
Bpace. High over those venerable graves towers the stately 

3250 monument of Chatham, and from above, his effigy, graven by 
a cunning hand, seems still, with eagle face and outstretched 
arm, to bid England be of good cheer, and to hurl defiance 
at her foes. The generation which reared that memorial of 
him has disappeared. The time has come when the rash and 

3255 indiscriminate judgments which his contemporaries passed on 
his character may be calmly revised by history. And history, 
while, for the warning of vehement, high, and daring natures, 
she notes his many errors, will yet deliberately pronounce, 
that, among the eminent men whose bones lie near his, 

3260 scarcely one has left a more stainless, and none a more 
splendid name. 



3242. Same consecrated mould.— "What grave," exclaimed Lord 
Welleseley, '"contains such a father and BUCh a son ! " 

3247. Grattan. Henry Grattan, 1750-1880.— The brilliant Irish officer. 

3247. Canning. George Canning. 1770-1827.— Prime Minister in 1827. 

3247. Wilberforce. William Wilberforce, 1759-1828.— A philanthropist 
and reformer; one of the chief advocates for the abolition of the slave- 
trade. 



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